The Black Chapters of Tom Riddle
by DAMNINEEDANAME
Summary: Tom Riddle's strong and feared influence on most people has allowed him the position he could uphold for the longest time at Hogwarts - until he meets Lorella, and for once, a girl that does not seem to bow down to him so easily; a circumstance Tom has to change. At all costs.
1. The new one

The new one

'Tom Riddle' was the name in everybody's ears and mouths at Hogwarts. School prefect, head boy, indescribable talented wizard - maybe the best Hogwarts has ever seen in a long time, good looking, kind, and charming. The confident but calm Riddle was popular amongst most students and teachers, still yet, feared. Riddle knew how to preserve the cloak of fame he had draped around himself in his childhood, never taken it off, for why would he? Things worked perfectly fine. And if somebody did not listen, well, he would make sure they had no other choice. While his influence on students in other houses was significantly less than in his own, everybody soon understood that strange things happened around Riddle and his gang, or whenever something did not work his way. Alex Everleigh has been stuck in the hospital wing for weeks after a strange incident that nobody knew to explain, and while the seed of rumors started to grow into an unstoppable jungle of gossiping and fear, only Tom Riddle knew the truth, like he did with the other students that had crossed his path and did not feel obliged enough to walk in line. While his dark but glowing aura radiated from any stance he took, even if it was just looking out of the window to watch students playing in the yard, most knew that he was the wrong person to mess with. Admired but avoided from the other houses, there was only one house that could not avoid him, and if Slytherin had a mysterious reputation before Tom Riddle joined it, then it was redefined by his appearance almost seven years ago.

Tom's eyes glanced to the dark green water moving against the window ever so decently, he rubbed his chin in concentration. And the things they have been talking lately, 'Tsk', Tom thought. It made absolutely no sense to him. But there, these two were saying it as well.

"Do you think she will be sorted into Slytherin?" Asked Mathilda Yaxley, looking to her excited friend Amanda Tewon.

"I don't know, who'd want to be in any other house anyway?"

Both of them giggled as they entered the common room, but their happiness died out the moment they spotted Tom on the black couch, his pale features tinged in the light of the burning fire next to him. He stared at them intensively but seemed unimpressed when the girls scattered away quickly and over into their dormitory. It was a good advice to not be too close to Tom when the wheels in his head were so obviously turning, and they did turn everyday, every second, and surely also while he closed his eyes to sleep. He was beyond ordinary, and while cautious steps needed to be taken while just encountering him, it took an unexplainable amount of ambition to survive while living with him.

'So rumors's voice got louder' Tom thought, but decided to spend no more time thinking of something he would sooner or later find out anyway. The common room started to fill up, and Tom grinned faintly as a couple of girls from the sixth year hurried away, over into the girl's dormitory as well, over into his trap. He rubbed his chin yet again, watching the fire's flames dancing to the left and right before he stretched up, stopping the music that Roy Lestrange just started to play in the back of the room.

"Oi, just that one song?"

"No." Said Tom, putting his wand back. Roy sighed a little but did not try it again as he snickered and patted Tom's back in a friendly way while grinning.

"Managed to get around Slughorn's party again, eh? He told me to inform you that he won't be allowing your absence the next time." Lestrange said, letting go of Tom when he realized that the latter's eyes glanced to his hands, then back to his face.

"Is that so."

"Well, yes. Avery, tell him, 's what Sluggy said, didn't he?" Lestrange turned over to a blond male who nodded.

"Yep. That's what he said." Avery agreed, but shrugged at Lestrange when Tom merely walked out of the common room and was not to be seen hours later.

"Ngh...no, please..." Whimpered a female voice.

"Be quiet, Tewon. Suck. Harder!" Hissed Tom, glaring at the female below trying to please him to the best of her abilities. He laced his hand in her thin hair, pulling it firmly, controlling her head, forcing himself down into her throat deeply and only let go when she gagged too much; he didn't want the mess on himself, after all. Once Amanda had caught her breath again, she knew she had no other choice but to continue - but she was too scared. Her eyes wandered around the dark girl's dormitory, seeing the other girls having their blankets pulled up over their heads, protecting themselves. As if that ever helped.

"Go on. Or do you want that little accident from Nakota happen to you as well?" Asked Tom mischievously, tilting his face over to the empty bed. Amanda shook her head, her bottom lip quivered as Tom raised an eyebrow, and while Amanda's tongue wrapped around the tip of his well endowed self, he was rapidly growing more aggressive when Amanda did not manage to make herself taste the sweet warmth this time. He ripped her head away forcefully, lunged out and slapped right across her face, causing her head to bump against the bed's wall. Amanda did not budge, though wide awake, she cowered down, balled up and squilted shut her eyes tightly when the dormitory's door closed with a loud thud. At least it was over. For tonight.

The air of next morning was, unlike usual, filled with excitement at the great hall during breakfast. Everyone whispered about the new girl that was introduced to spend her last year here at Hogwarts. Nobody quite knew where exactly she came from, some said she was from the U.S., some said Egypt, and Tom was sure that he heard the Ravenclaws claim she was from Spain. Whatever it was, wherever she was from, her case was originally new to Hogwarts. There have been students coming for a visit from other nations, but none of them, once they started schooling elsewhere, was allowed to continue education at another school.

While most teachers said it had something to do with it simply being 'unusually strange', or 'a matter of language boundaries', Tom Riddle was not to be fooled. In his opinion, students were not allowed to skip schools because of the secrets they could spread about their previous institute, something that most schools did well to preserve. Tom's gaze wandered over to Slughorn once he realised that the new girl was going to be famous, and surely a nice addition for his club. While biting into a roll with honey, Tom's eyes scanned the tables when suddenly everything turned dead silent. A girl walked into the Great Hall, pale faced and dark haired was all Tom could see as he watched her walking towards the front, smiling politely at headmaster Dippet who pressed the both of his hands down to hers for a welcoming shake. The both of them exchanged some words that were not audible for Tom during the wolf-whistling erupting here and then, but the girl stood next to Dippet with her arms folded behind her back, facing the crowd that looked up curiously.

"I am certain that many of you have heard the news that we would be gaining another face for this year, this is Lorella Fawst, currently the first student to ever skip schools." Dippet said with a smile and Tom's eyes quickly swept over to Slughorn, who seemed most excited to hear about this.

"Well, tradition has it, tradition need be preserved, shall they not? And I am sure everyone is curious to know to which house you belong." Dippet chuckled and Lorella smiled gently, her cat-like eyes glanced over to the four different tables, but just before Tom and her gaze could lock, Dippet pulled out the Sorting Hat and offered her a seat on a stool. While Lorella's lips twitched slightly, maybe upon feeling a little awkward for being put on the spot and center of attention, she sat down.

"Oh Merlin please let that hottie be a Slytherin..." Murmured Lestrange, pressing Avery away from his view as the latter bent over to see more. Everyone was quiet, eyes concentrated when the hat was put down on the girl's head.

"Oh! Has been a long time, I don't recall sitting on a head older than a child, this is interesting and most troublesome, for how many things have you have already seen, and have so brilliantly solved the obstacles of life.

But the potential I smell,

can't avoid it, tell,

could it be, is it best,

that in Slytherin you shall rest?

I say...Yes."

While the other table's moaned, loud cheering erupted from the house of the green serpent. Tom Riddle stood up and clapped elegantly, the rest of the students followed his lead. Lorella smiled, a soft blush embellished her skin when she walked over to the Slytherins and sat down right in front of the handsome Tom Riddle as the latter previously forced the others to make room with just the slightest eye contact, and before anyone else could congratulate Lorella on making it into Slytherin, Tom had already offered his arm out to the girl, pulling her hand closer to his lips and kissing it while his eyes looked into hers.

"Welcome to Slytherin." He murmured softly.


	2. A nice start

Lorella smiled gently at her opposite, nodding deeply.

"Why, thank you. And who might you be?" She asked when she withdrew her hand from the dark haired and handsome man.

"You will find me to be called Tom." He said, and for some strange reason, Lorella could not help but notice the weird way of how he worded it. It was as though he was speaking of his name like a trait he disliked.

"Nice meeting you, Tom." Said Lorella gently, turning her face away from his intense gaze to look around a little, but there was not enough time as another guy next to Tom has already decided to catch Lorella in a conversation.

"So, where are you from? I'm Roy by the way. Roy Lestrange." He said. Lorella raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Where I'm from? Is that so important?" She asked.

"Of course!" Grinned a blond male next to Roy. Lorella glanced at him. "I'm Warren Avery. Your case is unique. There's never been a student randomly skipping schools. How'd you manage that?"

"Ah well. Be a little more patient, dear. Read the newspaper tomorrow." Snickered Lorella and nodded a 'thank you' at a girl next to her handing over a glass of pumpkin juice, but something caught Lorella's attention when she looked at her. Her bottom lip was split and she seemed stressed, but she smiled at Lorella nonetheless, saying "my name is Amanda. I can show you around after breakfast if you want."

"I will do that. That's a prefect's job." Said Tom suddenly and Lorella glanced over to him. He and Amanda seemed to have a nonverbal conversation, and the girl just nodded, quickly looking away. Lorella did not comment, but instead sipped on her pumpkin juice.

"Are you not hungry?" Asked Warren Avery. Lorella shook her head. "No, I was way too excited, I can't eat yet."

Roy smirked as he nudged Avery's elbow and tilted his chin over to Slughorn, who walked up to them by now.

"AHH Miss Fawst." Said Slughorn with a cheer, squeezing Lorella's hand firmly. "I'm Professor Slughorn, the potion's teacher. I sure hope to see you in my classes?" He asked. Lorella nodded with a smile.

"I'm pleased to meet you, Professor - yes of course. Thank you for your warm welcome."

"May I make that welcoming even warmer by inviting you to one of our exclusive evenings with a couple of other students next Wednesday? Just sitting together, having a nice chit-chat and dinner. Would you allow me to fascinate you with that?" He asked with a soft chuckle.

"Oh. I" Lorella seemed taken aback. "That's, I, sure. Why not." She nodded and Slughorn almost squeaked in joy. "Excellent, excellent! Oh, Tom, I do hope to count you present this time, my boy!" He waggled a thick index finger at him and Tom paid him a faint smile. "I will be there, Professor." He said in his oily tone.

"Excellent!" Slughorn squeaked again. "Avery, Lestrange, anytime. And tell Black and Mulciber that they're invited, too." He added, then tossed his hand up in a wave. "See you soon." He grinned joyously and walked off, Lorella couldn't help but notice his motivated walking. While she watched him a little absentmindedly, she did not feel the staring from the men in front of her, until the oily voice of Tom called her back to reality.

"Shall we go, Lorella?" He asked. She nodded at him and got up, leaving with a soft smile that was slightly dismissed when she saw the troubled eyes of Amanda following them.

"That girl, Amanda, is she okay?" Asked Lorella as Tom closed the gate like door of the Great Hall. He glanced at her, nodding politely. "She is a bit strange." He said, but before Lorella could comment, he interrupted her.

"The castle of Hogwarts is enormously big. It will take some time until you've seen everything, we could not cover it within a few hours where even students need years and still have not seen everything. But do not worry. You have a whole year to orientate yourself a little. And in case you need help, I will be there."

"You're so kind. So very unlike what I have always heard of Slytherins." Said Lorella as they proceeded walking. Tom chuckled, though still staring ahead as the both of them went ahead towards the Herbology greenhouse.

"You may not want to listen to what people outside of Slytherin say. The Sorting Hat has chosen you because you have the potential to be nothing less but great, which leaves me concluding that you possess the ability to see through these ridiculous attempts of putting us Slytherins down. We are concerned of our own, and you are, as of now, one of us." He turned to her, looking into her catlike eyes. Lorella almost ran into him and noticed the goosebumps when Tom said that, but she also felt extremely odd by his stare. It felt like the air turner chillier, though on a second thought she was blaming it on the greenhouse's climate. Tom turned back around and Lorella followed him through the different parts of the castle, and after an hour of showing her around, she knew where she would be taught her lessons, where the lavatory was and how she could get through secret passageways. She panted a little when she climbed out of a portrait hole and was now facing a large spiraling staircase leading down.

"The Slytherin's common room and our dormitories are in the dungeon. Come." He said, walking ahead. Green light lit up from the torches with each step they took downstairs. When Tom stopped in front of a stone wall, he whispered the password into Lorella's ear, and she couldn't help the chills starting to rush through her body when his hot breath tickled her neck.

"Merlin's beard" said Lorella, and the stone wall showed them a way leading into a large room decorated in green and silver; a room that was mostly dark. The stone walls repeated their pattern on the floor and Lorella looked around towards the windows giving off the feeling of an aquarium. They needed to be under the sea.

"Do you like it?" Tom grinned slightly when he watched Lorella's twinkling eyes.

"It is amazing!" She said and didn't dare waking around too much. Tom offered her a seat on the couch and she chuckled, gladly sitting down. "Aren't you a gentleman." She mused.

"Please, just manners." He said softly, reaching out for a crystal bottle with translucent, light brown liquid that was poured into a glass for her.

"Oooh. Firewhiskey, is it? Aren't you scared the younger ones will take advantage of this, Mr. Prefect?" Asked Lorella with a grin. Tom leaned back.

"Let me just put it this way. Those that are not of age, and touch the bottle, will easily understand why it is called Fire. Whiskey." He tossed up his glass in the air, Lorella mimicked the gesture, and the both of them had a sip.

"Tell me, what is your favorite subject?" Asked Tom then. Lorella looked up to him, then away again.

"I'd rather not say that." She said promptly, causing Tom to raise an eyebrow.

"Sorry." Said Lorella suddenly. "I didn't mean to sound rude. I just get criticized a lot, whenever I mention that I do like and believe in divination."

"Most people." Tom started and put down his glass. "Are narrow minded. Stick to those who are not." He looked at her softly, and Lorella smiled, eyes almost glistening in joy. He really understood her and what it was all about.

"Tell me. How did you manage to be the first case that allows school-skipping?" He asked gently, adding more Firewhiskey into Lorella's glass.

"Ah well. My father has got a new job at the Ministry of Magic. So we moved from Germany to England, and because of that, well. You know, a politician's influence can cause wonders...or a daughter to be allowed to go to Hogwarts." Lorella shrugged. "I mean. My father is originally from England, he just moved to Germany in his youth, and met my mother there."

"Influence can cause wonders indeed..." Murmured Tom absentmindedly, rubbing his chin as he stared towards the fireplace. A couple of students soon walked into the common room, aside from some girls seeming in a hurry to get into their dormitories, Lestrange and Avery walked in, and among them a couple of other young men that Lorella did not pay attention to earlier this day. They all seemed to be a group, a clique of sorts, and sat down on the couches close to Tom.

"So." Smirked Lestrange, glancing at Lorella. "You've made it into the Slugclub." He added and had a sip of Firewhiskey as well.

"I still don't understand why." Said the girl.

"Sluggy likes extraordinary or special students. Or famous students. Famous for whatever reason." Commented a male next to Avery.

"Mulciber's right." Said Avery. "That's how Slughorn is. Yo, Black, leave some of that Firewhiskey for me too, will you!"

Lorella thought about these things, but her eyes wandered around the common room, trying to get rid of the chills she got when Tom looked her way and did not stop staring for a while. Maybe he would realize she was feeling uncomfortable, and turn his attention somewhere else, but this did not seem to be the case until some more students walked into the common room, this time it was another pack of girls quickly scurrying over into the girl's dormitories. Lestrange and Avery smirked at each other and carefully glanced to Tom when Lorella asked "why aren't any of the girls sitting with us?"

"Only Lord knows." Grinned Black, causing all of the men, aside from Tom, to break out in howling laughter, a joke that Lorella obviously did not understand, judging by her confused expression. Tom's lips twitched slightly before he closed his eyes, inhaled deeply and smiled at Lorella.

"Don't worry about them." He said. "There are other things to worry about." He uttered, but Lorella did not hear that part.

The rest of the day passed by quickly, Lorella had spent it chatting and eating with the guys and was on good terms with everyone so far. Though at night, when she first entered the girl's dormitory, she did not understand why none of the girls wanted to talk to her and especially frowned when Lorella closed the curtains of the bed for more privacy.

"Good morning." Said Tom Riddle early next Sunday suddenly, standing behind Lorella in the common room when the latter fixed her tie; she jumped in surprise and turned around to him.

"Oh...hey. Good morning." She cheered, though still panting a little.

"How tactless of me. I'm sorry for startling you." Tom smiled gently as his eyes went to her tie, then back into her eyes. "The Slytherin uniform suits you well. Let us get into the Great Hall. Did you rest well?" He asked, pressing the palm of his hand to the small of her back, slightly shoving her ahead.

"Yes, the bed is really comfortable. It was like sleeping on clouds." She said, walking all the way upstairs. When Tom and Lorella entered the Great Hall, the air was already filled with the scent of freshly baked rolls and curiosity when they've seen Lorella, some started chattering to each other.

"I suppose they've read the Daily Prophet." Said Tom matter-of-factly and Lorella nodded with a chuckle. She sat down next to the other Slytherins, having a nice breakfast and an amusing round of smalltalk with the guys as the rest of the girls were still hellbent on ignoring Lorella.

"Well then." Lorella sighed and got up when she was done with her tea.

"Where are you going." Asked Tom lowly. Lorella, thinking his tone was just a tad off, glanced at him.

"I was asked to meet...what was his name, I think Professor Dumbledore, at the library, because I forgot to buy a book - and that's where I'm going." She said, smiling. "I know where the library is, you showed me after all." And off she walked, out of the Great Hall.

"Hmm." Grinned Avery. "She...is quite a cutie, isn't she?" He carefully glanced to Tom, but the latter still stared ahead towards the spot he had last seen Lorella standing, his eyes were narrowing steadily, but they suddenly widened and he snapped his head towards Avery. "She's mine." He murmured dangerously. None of the guys commented anything when Tom had gotten up and walked out of the Great Hall, strolling around the corridors to check if everything that needed to be in place actually was, and his last destination, though his first by importance, was the library.

"Ah, Riddle." Said Professor Dumbledore as he saw him approaching, Lorella turned around to Tom and smiled faintly.

"I was just wondering if everything is alright, Sir. It's been two hours since Lorella left the Great Hall to meet you."

"How very thoughtful of you." Nodded Dumbledore with his vibratingly soft voice. "I was having a nice conversation with Miss Fawst, a very bright addition for the house of Slytherin, if I may be so free to compliment such."

Lorella smiled shyly, turning her face to the side.

"Thank you kindly." She said, but Tom nodded and rested his hand on Lorella's shoulder. "So bashful." He chuckled. "But I, too, have realized that Lorella must have a lot of talent, Sir."

"Observant as always, Tom. Well then, unfortunately time has us fooled again - and I need to tend to less amusing business now." Sighed Dumbledore, straightening his back.

"Thanks for your help, Sir." Said Lorella and pressed the transfiguration book against her chest firmly. "I will read some chapters, I don't want to have any problems with your lessons."

"Do so, yes. I will be seeing you two tomorrow. Good day to you." Said Dumbledore. Lorella smiled with a slight, respectful bow. "See you tomorrow, Professor." She said and watched the man walking off, then she turned around to Tom. "He is very kind, I like him already. Well...I..." She glanced into the library. "I will go ahead and read. Thanks for looking after me, but I'm fine." She smiled, about to get further into the library where she knew nobody was allowed to speak, but Tom called her back.

"Lorella, why did you not simply ask me to give you summaries of the earlier chapters?" He pointed to the Transfiguration book.

"That's very kind of you to offer. But summaries don't make me think. You will find that I cherish independence. And how independent am I when I simply copy things somebody else has thought?" She smiled, but frowned when Tom looked at her as if she insulted him; he stood there with his arms folded behind his back, his lips pressed together, staring at her. He nodded, then turned around and left the library wordlessly. Lorella, not quite knowing what to say or do, merely sat down at a free working space. It was only her second day, but something was terribly odd. Too odd.

"Psst." Said a voice around a shelf hours later. It took Lorella some time to realize she was addressed, but she looked up and saw the girl Amanda standing there. Lorella put down her quill, glanced to the left and right to make sure that nobody was watching or listening, but she leaned closer to the shelf, acting as though she was browsing through the books.

"Yes?"

"Be careful." Whispered Amanda. "And don't close the curtains at night."

"The curtains?"

"The curtains around our beds. Don't close them at night, that will infuriate-"

"HEY!" Hissed a woman. "You can talk outside! The library is a place of SILENCE!" She growled, and before Lorella could ask anything else, Amanda had already vanished. Lorella shook her head, running a hand through her hair in distress. What was wrong with that girl, what was she talking about?

Lorella found no peace during the next hours of studying. Still a while later, she sat there, thinking about Amanda's words for some time. Nothing enlightened her mind until it was time for dinner. Putting away her belongings, Lorella walked out of the library and over into the Great Hall that was not all too crowded yet, some students were still missing. Tom Riddle and his friends, however, were already attendant and Roy Lestrange waved the girl by over to the Slytherin's table.

"Hey." She said gently once she sat down.

"You were not here for lunch, where were you?" Asked Black.

"Just trying to catch up with the syllabus." Said Lorella. "For the classes tomorrow."

"Ambitious, aren't you." Commented Mulciber, raising an eyebrow. Lorella smiled gently, nodding.

"Trying my best, this is my final year as well." She sighed.

"So..." Avery then leaned closer. "Tell us the inescapable." He grinned, but Lorella shook her head in confusion. "Ehh...what?"

"Your blood status." Said Mulciber then. Tom's eyes glanced over to Lorella at that time, his interest was stirred again.

"I doubt that's of importance." Said Lorella sternly. "And that is all you will hear from me on that matter."

The men all looked at each other when Lorella said this, exchanging gazes, but Tom

Riddle was the only one who stared at Lorella intensively.

The whole dinner was spent quietly, none of them said a single word anymore, and when Lorella was done, she followed some of the girls back into the common room. She saw them heading into their dormitories already, closing the door even though they have seen Lorella close. Scratching her head, she simply sat down on one of the couches again and continued reading. What was wrong with them? Why didn't they want her around?


	3. Tom's fading facade

A week passed, a week in which Lorella adjusted and found people to talk to, even though most conversations happened to be quite superficial. She gave up on trying to hang out with the Slytherin girls but instead, chattered around with students from other houses. Tom Riddle and his gang has only sought contact to her sparingly after their last halfway-discussion over Lorella's blood status, but strangely enough, the girl was sure that she had sometimes seen one or the other of the guys around her wherever she went, which started to be difficult to merely shrug it off as coincidences. Were they spying?

"Hey Lora." Said a boy from Ravenclaw behind Lorella in the library.

"Good morning Athan." Smiled Lorella, pointing to the books. "A bunch of homework, hm?"

"Yes, sadly. But I will be done in no time at all. Would you like to go to Hogsmeade later?"

But before Lorella could answer, a voice behind her caught her off guard.

"Lorella, come here please." Said Tom Riddle, walking up to the girl. He glanced over to the librarian who was currently not so impressed of the voices, but as soon as she saw Tom, her frown turned into a smile and she nodded at him as if it was okay, as if he were the only one allowed to hold a choir in the library. While Lorella looked at Athan, sighing meaningfully, she turned around and walked over to Tom.

"Yes?"

Tom looked at her intensively for a couple of seconds, his eyes swept to Athan, then back at her.

"May I have your ear for a bit?" He asked with a soft smile. Lorella stared at him, thinking whether this was a good choice or not, but then nodded and started walking off with Tom.

"I must apologize for my friends's silly question about your magical heritage." He said once they were out in the fresh air. "I have talked to them and we all came to the conclusion that it was uncalled for to ask." He said softly, stopping so he could see her face while Lorella looked up into his eyes.

"And why didn't they personally seek my presence to apologize?" Asked Lorella, tilting her head to the side a slight bit.

"A good question indeed. Forgive their behavior, if you will. They might be foolish at times, and so are their decisions." Said Tom.

"But you came here and apologized for something you did not even do. That's...very...unique." Mumbled Lorella.

"I pitied the fact that we could not get to know each other a little more after that incident. You are an interesting girl, it seems to me."

"Why thank you." Lorella chuckled. There was some silence before Tom decided to interrupt it.

"Slughorn's party is going to take place tonight." Said Tom. "You are coming, are you not?" He looked to her.

"Yes." Lorella nodded. "I kind of promised it to him after all, I can't chicken out. Say, is it very fancy? I don't mean to trouble you with girly problems, but I don't know what to wear for such an occasion." Lorella chuckled and Tom chimed in, though his chuckle was cut off when he sat down with her on a bench.

"Trouble me all you wish, I don't mind. And I would recommend something formal. He must have forgotten to mention that, see, he informs us about such things in the invitation letters we usually get." Tom said, looking at her then. "But it is my belief that you will look fabulous in almost anything."

Lorella blushed and turned her face to an other direction, not able to hold off the light giggle. "So charming, so charming. What's your plan, Riddle? Why wrapping me around your finger so much?" She grinned and Tom glanced at her intensively, then frowned and shook his head with a smirk.

"You caught me." He sighed and looked away, seemingly amused.

"Well?" Asked Lorella expectingly with a victorious grin.

"I was hoping for you to be the girl by my side for a Ball in two weeks. Of course also Slughorn-invented." Tom said, turning his face towards Lorella then, again his intensive stare almost caught the girl off guard.

"A Ball?" She frowned. "I..." she stuttered, but seeing Tom's all-pervasive eyebeam left her no other choice but to agree.

"Sure. I would love to go." She said and Tom paid her a soft smile.

"I'm glad you think so." He nodded in acknowledgement. Nobody said another word for a **while** again.

"It was nice talking to you, Tom. But do you think you could let me go back into the library? I'm still not done researching for an essay." Asked Lorella.

Tom closed his eyes, shaking his head. "Destiny does not want us to dwell a little in nice conversations, does it? Well then. Allow me to walk you back to the library safely, at least."

"Safely?" Asked Lorella as she got up and walked with him. "Lies here any danger? Is there something to be wary of?"

"Oh." Tom looked ahead, grinning a slight bit. "Not as long as...you walk the right paths..." He said, linking his arm with hers and, as he said he would, brought her to the library.

"So." Whispered Athan with a smile when Lorella returned. "Back already?...tell me. Do you..." He sighed a bit. "Like him, Riddle?"

Lorella chuckled at that. "But I don't even know him that much. He...is kind to me." She whispered back and Athan shrugged, obviously not able to agree or disagree. He wanted to say something but stopped as the librarian glared over to them. Lorella chuckled lowly, finding the situations here quite funny - before she remembered why she was here. Sighing at the load of homework in front of her, she continued only half heartedly.

"Ooooh, Miss Fawst!" Cheered Professor Slughorn when Lorella stormed into the classroom hastily, closing the door with the books still pressed against her chest.

"I'm sorry for being late, I-"

"Not to worry, not to worry, my dear. Grab your cauldron and off you go, potion on page seventy." Chuckled Slughorn and Lorella paid him an exhausted smile as she nodded and looked around.

"Here." Whispered Tom. Lorella walked there, putting her books down onto the table.

"Hey." She whispered in a soft tone and exhaled deeply, pressing her hand to her aching side; still out of breath.

"Why are you late?" Tom asked five minutes later, wanting her to catch her breath first while shaking his head at Roy Lestrange adding another ingredient into his cauldron, causing it to release a red steam that made him cough.

"I forgot we had potions while I was busy finishing the essay. Ngh...I'm never late. Wouldn't have happened had you not stolen some of my precious time." Lorella chuckled and built up her cauldron. Tom chuckled back, then suddenly exchanged the cauldrons so that she had his and he started over new with her empty one. Lorella frowned widely, unable to understand.

"What-" she started, but stopped when Professor Slughorn walked up to their row with a smile on his face, complimenting the emerald green liquid in front of him.

"Ohhh, excellent, Miss Fawst! It seems we have another talent for potions right here! You just got into the classroom and you've already managed brewing it as if it was pouring some butterbeer into a glass, eh? Ten points to Slytherin! Hah! Oh, not bad, not bad, Riddle. Not as quick as usual, though. Lestrange! What the bloody Baron is this supposed to be?"

Lorella's mouth was hanging open as Tom just shrugged with a soft grin.

"You, you really didn't have to do that-"

"A way of expressing my sincere apologies for, how did you word it, 'stealing your time.'" He said, continuing to add ingredients into the cauldron in front of him. "Which is why you got here late. And couldn't have started brewing the potion. It's the least I could do."

"But..." Lorella started, still not able to understand how selfless Riddle was, not wanting the fame for himself but rather helping her out.

"Didn't I tell you. You're one of us." Said Tom, looking over to her from the corner of his eyes. "And Slytherins will always take care of their own."

Lorella stared at his countenance for a long time, still taken aback, but happy. Truly happy that she was allowed to spend some time of her life here at Hogwarts, meeting this kindhearted wizard that gave her the feeling of being at home, and, on a completely irrelevant side note, looked enormously good while doing so. The bell rang ten minutes later, and together they walked into the Great Hall for lunch.

"Oh." Lorella smiled at Tom when he lead her to the Slytherin's table. "I will sit with Athan." She said. Tom raised an eyebrow at her, glancing over to the brown haired Ravenclaw, then back at Lorella.

"I usually do not fall for mistakes, but I trust my eyes that I have seen you sitting with the Ravenclaws during breakfast, Lorella." He said. "Surely you didn't forget you are a Slytherin."

Lorella frowned, glancing over to Athan who watched them curiously, seeing they were having some sort of argument.

"But Tom..." Frowned Lorella. "It's just for-"

"I'd rather have you sit where you belong." Said Tom finally, lowering himself down onto the bench, looking up to Lorella expectingly. There was silence all around the Slytherin's table, everyone stopped chattering, they paused to see Lorella's reaction, but the latter just stared at Tom, then to Athan, then to Tom again.

"Remember what I said about independence?" Asked Lorella. Tom looked up. "That counts for everything. I'll see you later, Tom." She said at last, then walked off over to Athan that gladly welcomed her. Lorella did not look over to the Slytherins, but she could definitely feel the fiery glare from afar directed at her, and the girls's gasping from her own house slowly died out.

"What an enormously advanced bit of magic you have shown us during Transfiguration just now, Miss Fawst." Smiled Professor Dumbledore as he saw Lorella in the corridor, on her way towards the dungeons.

"Oh, thank you, Professor." Smiled Lorella. "It means a lot hearing this from you, Sir, after all, your skills are legendary." She smiled and Dumbledore turned his face away with the faintest shade of red.

"You understand to compliment an old man, Miss Fawst. Pray tell me, are you and Mr. Riddle on good terms? You two have, forgive my observation, been throwing off an aura of distance towards each other."

Lorella sighed, wanting to answer, but Tom walked up and glanced at Dumbledore with a polite smile, passing by. Lorella did not look his way.

"Ah, as always, Tom happens to appear just during the curiousness of the moment." Dumbledore smiled at Lorella, then stepped closer to whisper.

"You can seek my attention during office hours, Miss Fawst, should you have any, let us find use for the term 'inconveniences.'" He said with a tiny bit of worry before he walked off and Lorella wished him a good day.

"Well hello there." Whispered Roy Lestrange suddenly as Lorella walked downstairs, just about to say the password for the common room, but she was pressed against the dark and cold stony wall. She gasped, looking back, trying to push him off, but he grinned and pressed her flatly to the dark surface.

"LET ME GO!" She screamed, hearing laughter erupting from around.

"I would like to hear that scream when I take her...too bad he already claimed her..." Murmured Black. Before Lorella could truly understand what was going on, somebody had already ripped her off of the wall by a fistful of her hair and dragged her into the common room, throwing her in an armchair. Lorella clawed onto the black leather, pressing herself back with eyes wide open when she stared up to Tom Riddle, who had bent over by this point and rested his arms on both sides of the armchair.

"You are not going to show such behavior again." He said through gritted teeth. Lorella just stared at him with her mouth gapping open, eyes teary but she did not cry.

"W-what...what did I do- why...why, you've been so kind, how-" she stammered out but Tom only grinned.

"You've just been pushing your luck a tad too much today, Lorella." Tom said nonchalantly, rubbing her tiny chin with his thumb. "It is about time to tame you a little. But first...Slughorn's annoying little evening. We won't stay for too long, my precious. I want to tend to you tonight..." He bit his bottom lip, then lowered himself down to her, the red gleam in his eyes couldn't be redirected. "One wrong word...and that little friend of Ravenclaw will pay for it. And trust me when I say...he wouldn't be the first Ravenclaw I got rid of." Tom said, brushing away the tears that rolled down Lorella's cheeks.

"Shhh." He said gently. "Nothing bad is going to happen unless you walk out of line. Come. Let's dress yourself up a little before we go." And he pulled her up, walking her over into the girl's dormitory. The other girls gasped at Tom's appearance, but seeing he was busy with Lorella, they quickly dashed out of the dormitory. Tom, not even caring about their disappearance, walked Lorella towards a closet.

"I want you to wear something appropriate." Tom said, browsing through her dresses. "Too short. Too much cleavage. Ngh..." He growled in frustration when he saw nothing that pleased his eyes. "Those dresses. You are going to burn them." He said.

"Wh-what?" Lorella managed to croak out.

"I don't want other men to eye up what's mine. Those dresses are too revealing." He glared at her. "I will check your closet tomorrow. And they better be gone when I do." He said nonchalantly and pulled out a black form-fitting dress with sleeves of black lace that continued above the cleavage part and would cover her shoulders nicely as well. He handed it over to Lorella, who took the dress mechanically, her body was just working on demand, her mind empty and overloaded.

"This one works. But it's still a tad too short. Where are your tights?" He asked, roaming around the closet when Lorella was unable to answer. He found some black pair the next moment, handing it over.

"Go and dress up. I will meet you in ten minutes in the common room."

Lorella stared after him when he walked off; with her mouth still gapped open, she flopped down onto the bed and could not budge.

AN: tell me what you think, people :)


	4. Mark my words

Lorella and Tom walked together wordlessly; the girl could only barely see Tom's formal attire around himself that gave him even more of a feeling of levelheadedness, elite, and severity. He stopped with Lorella in front of a door.

"Remember." Tom said in a low whisper. "No word. To anyone." He added firmly.

"Look into my eyes when I'm speaking to you." He frowned; and Lorella looked up. She was still way too shocked to really say something or to give it too much thought; too shocked to understand. So she just nodded at him. He stared down into her eyes, a smug twitch of his lips was visible before he pressed the flat of his hand to her back and shoved her into the elegantly decorated room full of people; the music greeted the two of them next to the plump man turning around with a glass of wine.

"Ahh. Tom! And Miss Fawst! So pleased to see you two, I thought you wouldn't come!" Cheered Professor Slughorn joyously and got up from the large round table with the other chosen students already sitting around it, waving the two of them by to their spots. Tom smiled and shook Slughorn's hand while Lorella went ahead to sit down; she felt like her knees wouldn't carry her weight any longer. Athan, sitting to her left, glanced at her. "Are you okay?" He asked softly. "You look paler than usual."

"She's fine." Said Tom gently as he lowered himself down on Lorella's right. "Are you not, sweetheart?" He asked and rubbed Lorella's back. Lorella forced a smile when everyone else inhaled audibly at what Tom called the girl; but nobody could have been more pleased than Slughorn.

"Oh, ohh, my dear boy, am I right to believe that you two, Mister Riddle and Miss Fawst, are actually...?"

Tom looked at Slughorn, then away mysteriously, a faint smile grew on his lips as his hand reached out to Lorella and squeezed it symbolically - Slughorn squeaked in joy.

"Congratulations, my dear!" He chirped and patted Lorella's back. "A fine man such as Tom by your side is by far the best that could happen to a girl, I am most certain!" He smiled brightly as he sat back down and a couple of other students chimed in with fascination and maybe even jealousy, judging by some expressions on the girl's's faces.

"Congrats!" Chirped a female from Hufflepuff, smiling brightly at Lorella.

"The both of you look good together." said a guy from Gryffindor.

"You two ended up together quite fast, judging by the fact that you two barely know each other." Said Athan. Unlike the others, he couldn't help directing this sharp remark at Tom, who glanced at him with his lower eyelids twitching for the split of a second before he responded in his oily voice.

"Some click, some don't." He raised an eyebrow provokingly at Athan, as if he indicated something specific, then turned his face away from him to sip on his wine. Slughorn, oblivious to the tense atmosphere between Tom and Athan, clapped loudly and the food appeared on everybody's plates. Tom glanced over to Lorella slightly when she did not pick up her silverware as everyone else did.

"Eat." He whispered into her ear along the clinking of the plates. Lorella gulped and grabbed the fork and knife but they were shaking in her hands a little; Athan noticed this on an instant because he had not taken his eyes off of Lorella ever since the surprising announcement that she started dating Riddle. His eyes wandered from Lorella over to Tom - whose red beam flickered up to Athan dangerously while cutting the meat on his plate.

"And then...!" Slughorn chuckled maybe half an hour later. "Professor Dippet told me it was absolutely alright, my heart must have skipped a beat, I'm telling you." He cheered and everyone cackled; especially Tom seemed very amused. Lorella had managed to eat a tiny bit of her dessert but couldn't force herself to eat more; her stomach was too upset and she felt way too dizzy to go on.

"Such a shame you do not like the dessert, Lorella. I may call you Lorella now that you are a part of my Club, may I not?" Asked Slughorn.

"Oh." Lorella smiled faintly, as if she was just called back into reality. "Of course you may, Sir. And I've had way too much to eat already, but it tastes very good." She said and Tom nodded at her, rubbing her thigh underneath the table and clapping on it twice approvingly.

"We will go in a bit." He whispered to Lorella, but she frowned and shook her head.

"We can't eat and vanish, that's impolite..." She whispered back, and it took no fortune teller to see that she did not exactly care about it being polite or not; she was just scared to be alone with him. Here, at least, she was safe.

"Hn..." Grumbled Tom when he had to realize she had a point, and the wheels in his head began to turn. Then suddenly, from underneath the table, he pointed his wand at the girl. With a loud gasp, Lorella doubled over and clung to her stomach and Athan jumped up in shock on an instant; Tom, acting just as shocked, doing the same while Slughorn just stared at the scene with eyes wide open at the girl's hissing of pain.

"Dear, what's wrong, tell me!" Frowned Tom, rubbing Lorella's back while Athan glanced to Tom, seeing the wand in his right hand.

"Miss Fawst! What happened?" Gasped Slughorn and slowly got up; everyone stared at Lorella clinging to her stomach as if she was in labor. "Ngh..." She croaked and straightened up while Tom quickly pulled her into his arms.

"I will bring her to the hospital wing, Sir."

"Y-yes, yes, do that, my dear boy. Get well soon, Miss Fawst!" Said Slughorn still shocked, shaking his head. All eyes followed Lorella and Tom; even though none of them were as suspicious as those of Athan.

"Poor girl, didn't look healthy when she first entered..." Mumbled Slughorn when the door closed.

"Ahh! Ngh!" Lorella yelped outside, squinting shut her eyes as she bent over; believing she could catch or stop the pain that way but Tom pulled her back up.

"Make it stop...!" Pleaded the girl, but Tom shook his head. "Not yet." He mumbled, pressing his hand onto her mouth to muffle her yelping of pain. "Shhh..." He whispered soothingly, walking downstairs with the girl and entered the common room, where he let her go abruptly; causing her to fall down to his feet. She rolled onto her back, looking up to the ceiling, panting heavily once she realized that the pain was gone. Tom looked down to her, squatting to her level. His wand brushed away some loose strands from her pale face, his expression was unreadable for a moment before he watched Lorella trying to sit, but she started screaming and kicking when Tom suddenly picked her up, on his way to the girl's dormitory.

"LET ME GO! LET ME GO YOU FREAK!" She yelled but Tom just sighed and shook his head.

"Call me whatever you want, just keep in mind that I will remember everything when I'm inside of you." He said, but Lorella bit his arm and Tom let go with a low hiss, pulling out his wand.

"Stupify!" He growled but Lorella blocked the spell with her own wand. After another minute of fighting, and Tom had to admit that Lorella was a fine duelist, Lorella's attention was grasped by seeing the two girls she shared her dormitory with; namely Mathilda and Amanda, both entered the common room followed by Black and Avery.

While the girls gasped, Black and Avery kept grinning when Tom hit Lorella with a surprising hex, causing her to lose her protection and guard. Tom used this opportunity to fasten his arms around her; Lorella screamed and tried to use a jinx but nothing worked, she was too weak to move at all, it was like Tom soaked out her energy with the last spell. He and his gang entered the girl's dormitory, where Black pushed down Mathilda Yaxley and Avery climbed on top of Amanda Tewon, all the while Tom had his hand wrapped around Lorella's neck to make her watch the scenario. Mathilda's clothes flew off of her body, Amanda was roughly kissed down into the bed, and Lorella squinted shut her eyes when the girls groaned in pain at the guys entering them; the beds were jumping with the severity of their thrusts. Tom glared, forcing Lorella's chin towards the direction of the happening, but she shook her head and pleaded.

"Please! What did we do to you, what did I do to you?!" She yelled but Riddle did not listen. He got up and pulled Lorella along by her hair, forcefully throwing her onto the bed. He smirked and bit his bottom lip as he watched Lorella being unable to move, her arms twitched and she looked over to him with nothing but fear and panic written in her eyes, then started to scream for help, and Tom only laughed, the other guys joining this action.

"The room is enchanted for our needs, my dear. Nobody can hear you scream." Tom grinned and walked closer - but suddenly, the bed's curtains blocked himself from getting closer to the girl. Lorella had managed to grab her wand; Tom growled and tried everything to open or rip away the curtains but it was to no use; Lorella must have used a shielding charm.

"Open up right now!" Growled Tom completely infuriated; Lorella could hear the several spells he tried to cast to get rid of the curtains but none of them worked; the green silk protected the girl like a wall.

"Mark my words, Lorella. You can't run forever. And when I get you...I will make you wish you hadn't denied me tonight." Said Tom darkly, and even though he did not yell or even growl, his anger was clearly audible, and the promise he made caused Lorella to whimper in fear. She knew, after all, that she had to get out of this bed somewhen.


	5. She can't run

Lorella lay stiffly in her bed all night long. Tom's hex started to dissolve maybe three hours after he casted it on her. How horrible, to think that she would not even have been able to take a shower after he was done with her. She was not wrong about him. No, it was so much worse than just being wrong about a person. It was not like meeting a friend that turned out to not like the same type of music. It was not like realizing that the neighbors were in fact supporting another political party. This was beyond being wrong. This was the very betrayal of any good heart that existed, it was shaking Lorella's very view on the world, and those she could trust. Maybe, and Tom painfully taught her, trust was nothing but a naive solution for seeing the naked truth, a knife made to turn against oneself.

And what was she supposed to do now? What could he do? What would happen if Lorella decided to send Dumbledore a message this second? After all, he mentioned to contact him should there be any inconveniences - and was this not an inconvenience?

"You...you should not have done that..." Whispered a female voice behind the curtain. Lorella sat up.

"Amanda? Is that you?"

"You should not have done that! He will...oh he will..." Amanda stopped, her voice was shaky. "He punished all of us when we just pulled up the curtains to protect ourselves from watching one of our friends getting..." She stopped again. "But none of us ever dared using a spell on the curtains. Oh he...I warned you...I warned you about it, why did you not listen?"

"Should I let him rape me?! What are you expecting, what is it? We have to fight back! We have to-"

"Do you think none of us tried that at all? The bed you're sleeping in, it belonged to Nakota, she's..." Amanda whimpered. "When Mulciber was done with her, she...she was about to send a letter to her father, explaining everything, begging for help. But Mulciber caught her and..." Amanda gulped. "A curse changed her whole life. She's at St Mungo's hospital, her memory is gone, she will never be the same again..." Amanda shuddered. "They stalk us, they know where we are all the time, they know whom we talk to, they threaten to kill our families and friends. And those are not empty threats, don't huff! You don't know Riddle yet, he's the worst of all! He will personally tend to you, he...he knows spells nobody could dream up, he delved into the Dark Arts when we all still played with dolls, Lorella, please don't be foolish. This is your last year, then it's over, that's what matters, he will be gone, it will be over after a year, you have to be brave, just a bit..."

Lorella shook her head, not able to understand, not able to say anything.

"Please Lorella...he did not introduce you to it yet...but if one of us misbehaves, all of us will be punished. That's how he makes sure we "stay in line", as he likes to call it..."

"Amanda...there must be a way, Dumbledore-"

"No! Don't say his name...don't say his name around Riddle, Dumbledore already kept an eye on him ever since that incident-"

"But you don't understand, Dubledore can help-"

"No, YOU don't understand, Lorella! Tom killed Myrtle, a girl from Ravenclaw almost two years ago! Right under Dumbledore's nose. There is nothing he could do for her, so there is nothing he could do for us! Your friend Athan will pay for it!"

"K-kill?" Lorella then repeated shakily. "He killed a girl?" She frowned, remembering Tom's words. "And trust me when I say...he wouldn't be the first Ravenclaw I got rid of..." It looped in her head. Over and over again.

"Oh that he did, we all knew who it was, but none of us ever dared saying it, we all know Riddle is the last living relative of Salazar Slytherin."

Lorella gasped again upon hearing this. "H-he is?"

"Everyone in Slytherin knows, do you understand? That's why, that's why he's so after forcing us to listen. Especially his own house is of greatest importance...he thinks it's his duty..."

"...to treat his house like a child he needs to discipline..." Lorella murmured, shaking her head.

"Exactly. And he seems to have taken special interest in you, Lorella. While he could teach us for years, with you, he has to start over new, at an age that's difficult to influence and he knows...I think that's attractive to someone like him, he must be viewing it as a challenge. He's not used to students declining his offers that are in fact orders, he's not used to being told no, he's not used to being rejected or denied, and especially tonight..." Amanda shook her head, or so Lorella imagined her to do all the time when she stopped talking abruptly.

"He's terrorizing us...we can't let it happen..." Lorella frowned. "We can't..."

"I told you everything you needed to know. What you do or don't do is your choice now." Said Amanda with a cold hiss. "But if we get punished because of you...that won't make us friends, Lorella." She said bitterly, then got up and cuddled back down into her own bed; Lorella heard the blanket shifting. What should she do? Could she win this fight all alone when not even Tom's victims were on her side? Not only did he use his influence on students to force them to do anything he wanted, no, Tom really went as far as killing when things did not work his 'way'. Tom Riddle, the embodiment of evil.

Lorella did not sleep at all. Her eyes were still round as marbles when she heard the other girls getting out of their beds hours later, and at some point, she even dared peeping out of the curtain. She glanced over to another bed, a girl she had not seen yesterday evening, she was obviously trying to keep to herself and as quiet as possible, and it worked; Lorella did not even know her name. Mathilda and Amanda both dressed up and waited on their plump, blonde friend.

"Phina, come on, hurry up." Said Mathilda. Lorella, meanwhile, got out of the bed and looked down to her body; she was still wearing the black dress, but the lace was ripped, her tights had holes and she had a couple of bloodied scratches on her arms. The three girls left Lorella behind as they walked out and possibly went ahead into the Great Hall for breakfast, but Lorella knew she could not eat a single thing or even bare seeing Tom. How could she even get out of the dormitory? Maybe he was lingering there in the common room. Could he? No. He was a prefect. He had to make sure other students from other houses were behaving. But after what happened yesterday night, would he even care about such things? After all, he had a dutiful thing to do, disciplining somebody from his own house must have a higher priority. Carefully, Lorella peeped her head out of the dormitory, seeing nobody in the common room's center. What if he was hiding? She slowly pulled her head back and decided to take a shower first, walking over into the girl's bathroom where she stripped off and made sure, probably thrice, that nobody was there.

Ten minutes later, Lorella carefully walked out of the dormitory, fully attentive and alert, should something move too fast. She inhaled in relief when nobody was to be seen, and quickly walked along the stony corridor to get out of the common room. As soon as the wall moved to the side, she gasped and stopped dead in her tracks; Tom Riddle stood in front of her, staring into her eyes and merely grinned when Lorella pressed herself against the wall, glimpsing to the exit but he blocked it. He slowly reached his hand to her face and she flinched at the feeling of his cold knuckles against her cheek when he brushed it. Oh he knew the impact he had on her. And he liked it.

"I thought I would personally come to get you. You don't want to miss breakfast, do you?" He asked lowly.

"N-no..." Stuttered the girl.

"Good." Whispered Tom. He came closer with his face and gently kissed her cheek, keeping his lips pressed against her skin, listening to her increasing heartbeat before he grabbed her hand and walked off, upstairs with Lorella.

"Miss Fawst!" Smiled Professor Slughorn when he saw Lorella and Tom entering the Great Hall. "Are you feeling better?" He asked. "I was just on my way to the hospital wing, to come and check." He smiled.

"Y-yes Professor, thanks, I'm feeling much better. Maybe I did indeed eat too much, heh." She smiled when Tom wrapped his arm around her shoulder, nodding at Slughorn before saying "which, I'm sure, had nothing to do with your delicious food, Sir." He smiled and Lorella shook her head, chiming in. "Nothing at all, I promise."

Slughorn chuckled. "Oh that's good news on both ends. Very well then. Expect my next invitation you two! See you later!" He patted Tom's shoulder as he passed by and walked off, Tom, meanwhile, moved towards the Slytherin's table while still holding Lorella's hand, only letting it go once they sat down.

Amanda and Mathilda said nothing after they've noticed the girl, while Avery and Black both grinned upon seeing Tom taking Lorella's plate to put some food on it.

"Eat." He said lowly, daring her to discuss about it now. Lorella picked up her fork, and despite disliking scrambled eggs with bacon, she started to eat nonetheless, ignoring the ongoing conversations on nothing around her.

After a while, she glimpsed over to Athan, wanting him to catch her eyes , but he was too busy chattering around with somebody else. A snapping sound in front of Destiny's eyes called her back into reality.

"I want your attention here, Lorella." Said Tom firmly and Lorella shook her head, glancing at him a little confused, then to her half eaten food.

"Finish your meal." Tom said.

"I can't..." She whispered back, but Tom merely inhaled deeply at that, causing the girl to shiver in fear; she knew he was most dangerous when he turned completely silent.

"Don't make me repeat myself." He whispered harshly. Lorella glanced up to him, then around the people, around everyone so oblivious to her situation. No, she could not expect them to know. She had to help herself.

"I am done eating. See you in class." She said at last and suddenly got up, walking off into Slughorn's classroom.

"Phew..." Sighed Lestrange, shaking his head. "That'll take some time, taming her."

"She surprises me everyday. Maybe some treatment to the Ravenclaw will change her mind." Muttered Tom, shoving his plate to the side as he stared into the distance, deeply in thoughts.

"Speaking of which...where did he go? He's not with the Ravenclaws anymore." Murmured Black, stretching his head to see more of the hall. The other guys did the same. "Can't see him either." Mumbled Avery. "Maybe-"

"He followed her." Glared Tom, then got up, walking out of the Great Hall in his usual pace.

"Athan!" Frowned Lorella when she saw the Ravenclaw entering the potion's classroom. "Hey there."

"Hey." He smiled gently. "Just wondering, are you okay? Your stomach." He added and glanced to her body, then back to her face. "I was worrying. There is something I need to tell you, it's about your-"

"Good morning, Cooper." Said Tom as he walked into the classroom, smiling once he reached Lorella, kissing her cheek softly.

"Morning Riddle." Said Athan, stretching his back a little.

"And what are you doing here, exactly?" Asked Tom. "Shouldn't you be in your own classroom?"

"As a prefect it is my duty to check if everything and everyone." He glanced to Lorella, then back to Tom. "Is okay. Which you, being a prefect yourself, should know."

"Had I not done so before coming here to listen to your little lecture, Cooper, I would probably agree, yes." Said Tom smoothly, raising his chin as he folded his arms behind his back, which gave him an aura of finality. Athan, understanding so, nodded at Lorella and vanished from view. With a swift flick of Tom's wand, the door closed and he turned around to Lorella with a glare, his nose snarled up in nothing but destructive anger, eyes glistening in wrath and scorn as he walked her against a wall, hissing threateningly. "I will FORBID you to ever talk to him again, yes, not even look in his direction, have I made myself clear, girl?!" He asked, and this was the first time Lorella could indeed see him losing his cool. Jealousy was a meddlesome thing.

During potions, Slughorn thought it was a great idea to create pairs, and of course Riddle and Lorella ended up together in a team.

"The Draught of Living Death" said Slughorn. "Is quite difficult and very, very dangerous. Anyone who drinks it might fall into an endless slumber, never to wake up again. Horrible thing to happen, isn't it, so we want to be cautious. Now I must add that there has never been a student during my magical career to succeed brewing it. SO." he raised his voice to encounter the demotivated groaning. "The team that manages it first will get a phial of this." He walked over to his suitcase, pulling out a very tiny and almost teardrop-shaped glass of a golden potion. "Who can tell me what this is?"

"Felix Felicis, Sir." Said Lorella next to Tom. Tom looked at her in a bit of surprise.

"Very good, Miss Fawst. Could you also explain what it does?"

"It brings success to the person who consumed it. Nothing will go wrong on a day of Felix Felicis, which is why it is referred to as liquid luck."

"Very good, very good! Ten points to Slytherin! Now with this as a prize it should be easy to go ahead and start now, students! Chop, chop!" Slughorn cheered and Tom grinned proudly at Lorella before he opened the book to read the ingredients for the Draught of Living Death. When Lorella was finally able to see the list, Tom had already pulled out all the ingredients while Lorella started preparing them.

"What are you doing? It says cut the bean" frowned Tom a while later, wanting to pull away the knife and bean.

"It didn't work - and we just need the juice, so I thought crushing was the better option. See? It releases the juice much easier." She said, and Tom watched what happened and instantly scribbled it down into his own book. While the both of them worked on the potion, Slughorn walked around and nodded here and then, frowned at Lestrange and Phina's work, chuckled at Mathilda and Avery, but seemed pleased with Black and Amanda's results so far.

"We have to hurry up." Said Tom when he realized that somebody else might be ahead of them.

"What do you need luck for anyway..." Grumbled Lorella.

"I don't. I just don't want anyone else to have it." Tom murmured. Lorella stopped to frown at him, then turned around, opening a drawer, but she gasped when a large black spider crawled out of it quickly; Tom watched the girl running around the table in panic. Interesting.

"I'm sorry Miss Fawst, it must have escaped from the others." Said Slughorn, quickly putting the spider away with his wand. Lorella glanced over to Tom, who had a strange expression on his face that Lorella could not decipher. As the class proceeded, Tom and Lorella altered between reading instructions out to each other, adding ingredients, chopping up things, reading ingredients, and waiting for the liquid to simmer. They were a great team, at least in front of the cauldron. Tom currently poured in ten drops of essence of wormwood and Lorella carefully tilted the cauldron to a slightly different angle, as described, while Tom continued adding another ten drops.

"Ahhh, you two look so adorable together, what a nice team you are! And of course the potion seems very promising so far!" Smiled Slughorn brightly when he saw how Tom and Lorella interacted so flawlessly.

"But do tell me, Miss Fawst, is having Mr. Riddle by your side not the best luck you could have? Hah." He chuckled and Tom raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Yes, is it not, Miss Fawst?" Asked Tom, washing his hands as the potion now needed to sit for five minutes. Lorella stared away with her face turning red from anger. Slughorn laughed, obviously misinterpreting it as bashfulness.

"I believe we both made her feel embarrassed, Tom. That was not very gentlemanly of us to do." Slughorn chuckled as he watched Tom tauntingly rubbing Lorella's red cheek before he walked off, saying something about young love.

"I know why you'd like to have that phial of Felix Felicis." Tom whispered. "But believing you could get away from me is an illusion." He said simply, continuing with the potion after Lorella was obviously too demotivated to help him any longer. After another thirty minutes, Slughorn walked around to check everybody's results and as expected, Tom and Lorella were the only ones managing the potion.

"Perfect! None of my students ever succeeded, even less than an hour you two, perfect! Here my dear boy, and share with your girlfriend, will you." Slughorn smiled when the phial wandered into Tom's hand instead of Lorella's, who had reached out her arm for the potion in vain. Biting her bottom lip, she glared at Tom, but he just smirked victoriously at her as soon as Slughorn turned around. Lorella grabbed her bag, pushed her belongings inside and quickly walked out of the classroom before Tom could see where she went.

The next few hours during Magical Art was sheer relaxation for Lorella. Professor Bottini, their art teacher, could not have been more pleased to see another face for his class and wished her a good day when she walked out of the classroom covered in oil paint.

"Yes, see you next week, Professor!" Waved Lorella, turned around and ran right into Tom's arms. Her smile vanished on an instant.

"Here you are. I've been looking all over!" He semi-hissed, obviously frustrated over the fact that he couldn't find her for the longest time. He raised an eyebrow at her colorful self.

"In what kind of cauldron did you fall." He more or less asked, sighing at her as he pulled out his wand and dissolved the spots on Lorella and dusted her off again, even though she was completely clean. For a moment, he looked into her eyes and she looked back, but none of them said a word as they made their way into the Great Hall for lunch.

"So what was it? Art class?" Asked Tom once they sat down. "Yes." Said Lorella gently, putting some food on her plate before Tom would choose to do it instead.

"Hm." Frowned Tom. "And how exactly is that beneficial for your future, studying such?" He asked, starting to eat.

"A question I would expect from a narrow minded person." Lorella frowned at Tom, he merely raised an eyebrow. "My whole family loves art. It is a cultural good." She said.

"What is so special about art?" Frowned Roy Lestrange. "I mean sure, portraits that talk and such. But aside from that?"

Lorella chuckled, shaking her head. "Art in the muggle world developed a lot more than it did in the wizarding community. It is interesting to compare the both, we do that during Professor Bottini's class."

The guys snorted and shook their heads, even chuckling; it was inescapable that they were amused. Aside from Tom. He almost glared at Lorella, having to restrain himself, but he leaned in to her.

"You're not going to continue that subject." He whispered with his usual tone of finality. Lorella frowned at Tom, then sighed and glanced away from him and around the Great Hall, her eyes caught those of Professor Dumbledore. He looked at her and Tom, but Lorella turned her head away once Tom noticed where her gaze wandered off to.

"Why wouldn't I continue that subject." Asked Lorella through gritted teeth, shoving some food into her mouth.

"Because I forbid it." Tom said simply, thinking of himself to be above explanations, it seems.

"It means a lot to me, so I am going to continue that subject." Said Lorella. Just when she was about to reach out for her glass of pumpkin juice, a screeching sound made all people's heads turn over to the Slytherin table - big and hairy black spiders rained down onto Lorella's plate, and her first reaction was to cling to Tom, whimpering against his chest as he rubbed her back; magically getting rid of the spiders with a content look on his face, that he abandoned as soon as his eyes caught Dumbledore still staring.


	6. Yes, my Lord

Lorella kept clinging to Tom while the chattering around him continued once the spiders were gone; his gang, however, smirked at their leader, taking mental notes it seemed. Tom still rubbed Lorella's back soothingly, his other hand on the back of her head kept her pressed against his chest. He could've sworn he saw some glistening tears once he let go of Lorella and she turned her face away.

"Let's go. It's Defense against the Dark Arts now." Said Tom. Lorella nodded and got up, walking out of the Great Hall with Riddle.

The rest of the day passed by quickly and without any odd things happening, which was mostly the case because Lorella said and did nothing, but instead, kept thinking about how to spare herself the trouble tonight. Maybe that's why he did not take her earlier this morning when he found her in the common room. Not only did he know that he was going to get her anyway, but he wanted her to bathe in uncertainty, wanted her to feel secure for the while only to break it tenfold tonight. And Lorella knew that Tom would try to get her at all costs, there was no doubt he wouldn't rest until he succeeded. With Felix Felicis at hand, he could indeed succeed. For a brief moment Lorella mentally argued with herself on that matter. Would Tom Riddle be that kind of person to rely on a stupid potion instead of his own abilities that he seemed enormously proud of? It was hard to imagine him using up the liquid luck just for that. Besides, he mentioned he only wanted the potion so nobody else could have it - none of the other girls lucking out in somehow getting the oh so perfect Tom's dirty secret across Dumbledore's threshold, none of his so called 'friends' becoming more successful than he was, and especially, no chance for Lorella to escape him. Tom knew exactly what he wanted and Lorella felt it when his hand rubbed along her thigh underneath the table during dinner; their way towards the dungeons felt like agreeing to take a walk down into hell. Lorella was scared, but she did not want Tom to know it.

Amanda and Mathilda hurried over into the dormitory as soon as they've reached the common room, Lorella, however, did not do that. She knew it was pointless the moment Tom stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her from behind, pressing her against him firmly while he whispered into her ear.

"Can't run now, can you?" He hissed, suddenly turning her around and slapping her so hard across the face that Lorella fell down to the ground, holding her bleeding lip while Tom picked up her wand that fell out of the girl's hand.

"I will keep this. As a reminder that I am in control here. You will receive your wand during classes." He said, pulling her up by her hair. Lorella did not yell or cry, her head was empty again when he dragged her into the dormitory, but stopped in front of her closet, opening it. His eyes went to the left and right as if reading a book before he turned around to her; he couldn't have been less amused.

"You did not get rid of the dresses." He said with a growl, lunging out at her again. The flat of his hand hit Lorella's other cheek hard, but she fell onto her bed.

"And what was that discussion about that pointless art class where you learn filthy muggle culture?" He asked, looking down at her. "Hm?"

Lorella gulped, looking over to Amanda who stared at her with pleading eyes because she saw Avery and Black standing by the door, waiting on a wrong word of Lorella to be allowed to punish the others for it. But Lorella shook her head at Tom.

"You punished me for that already..." She said softly. Tom narrowed his eyes, but stretched his chin up, nodding. "Indeed, I did. But tell me, my precious. Will. You. Continue that course?" He asked. Again Lorella's gaze wandered over to Amanda - the latter still seemed scared and pleaded with her eyes and that's when Lorella had a final idea.

"I don't think I've heard your answer, Lorella." Said Tom.

"I won't continue that art course." Said the girl, standing up. Everyone stared at her, not knowing what she was going to do next, and Tom looked at her in amusement, for he had her wand and she had nothing. Then suddenly, his amusement turned into shock; Lorella kissed him passionately out of nothing, then pulled away from him, tucking on his tie as she narrowed her eyes in lust. "I want you now..." She whispered.

Black and Avery stared at each other with frowns of shock, Amanda's mouth was gapped open, Phina pulled the blanket over her body, Mathilda just shook her head with her hand pressed to her mouth. And Tom? Tom had the most dumbfounded expression in the history of magic plastered on his face before it contorted in thundering anger.

"What is it, Tom? Am I boring for you now?" Asked Lorella, starting to unbutton her blouse, exposing her bra and luscious cleavage. Black and Avery bit on their fists seeing it, but Tom had his eyes narrowed at Lorella. This did not go as planned. He wanted her to cry under him, wanted her to scream his name in agony, wanted her to bleed, to sweat, everything just to fight his touch - she betrayed him of this experience, of breaking her will. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. And he hated that. She had to pay for it.

"Get out." He suddenly growled to the others while his eyes stared into Lorella's soul it seemed, and did not stop even a while after everyone had left them in the room. Then he smirked.

"You can't fool me." He uttered, suddenly ripping off her blouse, squeezing her breasts firmly. "You are just as scared as before! Admit!" He growled, but Lorella kissed Tom's neck now, sucking harshly on it. He groaned at the feeling before he ripped her off of his skin by her thick hair, pushing her down onto the bed while getting rid of his pants. Lorella sat up, smirking at Tom. "Come on then. Show me what you got. I can't wait..." She said seductively but Tom glared and shook his head, lunging out, slapping Lorella across the face again. She laughed, moaning for him when he ripped off her panties, gasping when two of his fingers entered her roughly, penetrating her. She moved under his touch, squeezing her left breast in pleasure as she moaned.

"Ngh! Tom, I want you, I want you now! Ah! Yeah-ah! Come on!"

"Stop moaning!" He growled, going faster and deeper, but despite his command, Lorella continued to moan. Tom's nostrils flared, no, he would get her to beg him to stop. Before Lorella knew it, he had replaced his fingers with something larger and harder - he pushed inside her all the way without further preparation and she couldn't suppress a yelp that sounded like he took her breath away. Tom, catching onto that easily, grinned, narrowing his eyes.

"How do you like me now." He mocked, thrusting into her with all his might; Lorella felt on fire, tears formed in her eyes but she moaned.

"Ngh! Ahh! Tom! Harder!" She groaned, locking her ankles around his waist and clung onto the bedsheets, the other hand went to his naked back, clawing on it in pleasure. Tom, completely infuriated now, grasped her arms and pinned them above her head roughly, bending down to stare into her eyes while his thrusts grew faster and more painful. Lorella looked into his crazy eyes, eyes obsessed with power, and hunger of controlling the girl and every aspect of her life, she saw the possessiveness and the billion shades of insane anger in them. Where, she wondered, where was just a tiny bit of something reminding her of a human being?

"So quiet, my dear?" He asked with a smirk, licking up her neck before he started to suck on it; not to make her feel good but to mark her as his. His property.

"Thought I wouldn't find it interesting enough anymore when you want me too, hm? Thought I couldn't break you..." He murmured, then suddenly ripped himself out of her painfully, grabbing her hips and turning her over. Lorella gasped, she was not prepared for this and he knew it when he thrusted into her from behind - causing her to release a loud yelp of pain. Tom panted into her ear, fully aroused now that he heard this sincere tone at last.

"Oh, what happened to the girl wanting it so badly?" He mocked, pulling on her hair to bend her head just enough so he could kiss her lips with passion before he let her go abruptly, picking up his hard thrusting as Lorella whimpered, trying to fight it but she couldn't - it hurt too much. From the corner of her eye, she could see Tom picking up something from the nightstand; it must have been his wand because the next thing she felt was unbearable pain that made her scream. Her whole body hurt beyond measure, it felt like he used a curse to make her believe she was on fire. Tom groaned seeing the little figure below him wiggling and waggling in discomfort upon his might; he turned her over again, wanting to see the pain in her face, memorizing it with his eyes as he lowered himself down and into her once more. His index finger and thumb caught her chin to keep her head in position - he could not allow her to look elsewhere other than into his own eyes, could not allow her to believe she could ever escape him. With a vibrating groan erupting from the back of his throat, he bent over and panted like an animal, releasing himself deeply inside of her, even giving last final thrusts just for good measure. Lorella's heart pondered rapidity against her chest, she looked away in shame and anger; it did not go as planned. He won.

"From now on." Started Tom, laying down on top of her to whisper against her lips. "You will address me as Lord Voldemort. I am. Your Lord."

Lorella just stared up at him in disbelief; her eyebrows pinched together, she wanted to say something but her throat was dried out; it only ended up in a small coughing fit. Tom smirked, rubbing his hand through her damp hair, suddenly ripping it firmly again, glaring. "Do you understand?" He asked, tracing the tip of his wand along her bare chest. Lorella bit her bottom lip, squinting shut her eyes as the grip in her hair tightened.

"Y-yes..."

"Yes what?" Asked Tom in a smirking murmur.

Lorella glanced away, then back at him because he waved his wand threateningly.

The sound coming out of her mouth was the most detestable Lorella could have dreamt up - it tasted like soap. To Tom, however, it must've been nothing but sheer music when she said it at last: "Yes, my Lord."


	7. Welcome into my web

He left her back in the room; naked, used, and vulnerable. Lorella stared into the endless water of the sea as she glanced through the window, watching a Grindylow and other creatures swimming by, but she eventually got up to take a shower and wash away what happened tonight, even though she knew she would never forget. Tom would make sure of it, too.

The other girls were in their beds once Lorella had walked back into the dormitory and tried to find some rest. She woke up early the next morning, it must have been around five when her eyes opened from a nightmare. She could only remember a spider that turned into Tom, trying to attack her while she screamed for Athan's help, but Athan did not look her way. She rubbed her eyes when she sat up, sighing. She felt as though she wasn't real. The other girls were still asleep of course, and Lorella decided to dress up already and walk out, flinching a little, still feeling sore. Each step hurt, it hurt even more after her body rested. Her eyes carefully wandered over to the door of the boys's dormitory, and for some strange but understandable reason, her heart started beating faster, knowing who was behind it.

"Giggly, wiggly, snuggly giiirrrl, out so early in the morning, in the morning, in the morning!" Sang Peeves the Poltergeist over Lorella's head as she strolled around the corridors.

"Peeves! Go away!" Grumbled Lorella. "I want to be alone!" She frowned when Peeves poked her.

"Moody, rudy, gloomy giiiirl, wants to be alone, wants to be alone, come here everyone, everybody's invited to join hissy Missy being alone!" Peeves laughed even harder, but his laughter died out at once.

"The Bloody Baron would be pleased to be invited too, Peeves. Don't you think?" Asked a male voice that Lorella knew all too well. She did not even turn around.

"Ohh, Sir Riddle, no, no there is no need to invite -him! No, no need at all, ohhhh I better leave before he crashes the party!" Said Peeves, flying off. Lorella stared out of the tall arched window, the sky was still dark while the torches burnt around her, lighting up the hallway.

"What are you doing up so early, 'hissy Missy'?" Asked Tom in his usual arrogant way, standing behind Lorella. Their eyes met through the reflection of the window, and Lorella turned around, though not looking in his face, she merely walked past him.

"Couldn't sleep." She said and sighed, sitting on a bench, pressing her back against the wall and pulled up her knees while Tom walked in front of her, staring down. While she rested her head back, he saw the hickeys on her neck, her swollen lip with the bloodied wound, and the skin had turned a faint shade of blue under her left eye. He liked her wrists best, they were red and yellow from his strong grip yesterday. With a wicked but content look on his face, he aimed his wand at her, dissolving the marks of his terror, at least outwardly. Lorella glanced to her wrists at first, then over into the window, seeing that the several blemishes on her skin were gone. She turned her face back quietly, looking into Tom's eyes as he lowered himself down to her level. Nothing was said for the while his hand reached out to brush her bottom lip with his thumb as he observed her face closely. She knew why he got rid of the wounds, there was no room left to hope that he in fact cared for her wellbeing, no, those were just precautions taken to make sure that nobody saw the things that happened behind the closed doors of Slytherin. Why did he not get rid of the wounds yesterday night, after he was done with her? Well, he must have known that sleeping in pain would be difficult for her. Anything to make her feel his tyranny.

"How did you know I was out?" Asked Lorella. Tom's eyebrow twitched, the calm look on his face radiated nothing but confidence all along. He never took it off - he couldn't. He did not have to. Tom Riddle, Lord Voldemort always won.

"That remains my little secret." He said, then stretched up with a yawn. Lorella watched him, finding it fascinating to see him doing things that other people did - even small things such as yawning. After all, he was so unlike anything human. But even though talented and lethally dangerous, he could not be all-knowing. How could he know she left the dormitory? She was quiet, everyone was still asleep. He mentioned the room was enchanted; did he also use a spell to spy on them somehow?

"I will always know where you are and what you do." Said Tom, as if reading her thoughts. Lorella frowned. Could he get into her mind?

"Didn't look like that when you couldn't find me yesterday after my art class..." She murmured lowly, almost inaudibly. Tom glared.

"What was that?!"

"Nothing." Sighed Lorella and got up, but he merely pushed her back down onto the bench.

"You will get up and leave when I allow it." He said dangerously. Lorella narrowed her eyes, inhaled deeply, trying to relax.

"Can I please leave?"

"And go where?" He asked, though the degradingly raised eyebrow, and the corner of his mouth greeted her with a taunting twitch. Go into the dormitory where he could follow - or walk around the castle where he could follow. It made no difference.

"Give me my wand, please. My first term is Divination. Or are you forbidding me that subject too?" Lorella asked sharply, Tom grinned.

"Hmm." He narrowed his eyes dramatically. "Good question...Divination, after all, is nothing a true witch or wizard can rely on...chance and a good amount of guessing seem to be the qualifying methods in that course, yes? Tell me, Lorella, why should I let my girlfriend study such nonsense?"

Lorella's nostrils flared. So she was wrong. She thought Tom would let her drop after yesterday night since he got what he wanted, but he did not seem to think so. The fun has probably just begun for him.

"Because it is no nonsense." She said simply.

"It is not?" He asked in amusement, sitting down next to her again. "Can you prove it?"

"There will come a time where you will have your proof."

"Is that a real prophecy now?" He couldn't help but laugh at her.

Lorella just sighed and looked away from him. "I'm not here to convince anyone. My mother and her family studied that subject, it's been like that for generations. It's the only tradition she left me after her death."

Lorella instantly frowned when those words escaped her lips. How stupid could she get? Tom was not a person to trust with such things. She did not even mean to tell him, she did not want him to know anything about her life. He could use the smallest detail against her, but such a big thing was a true weapon for him. Her mouth was just too fast, her brain too slow. Why, why, why did she say it?

"I'm not exactly interested in hearing your heartbreaking story." Said Tom coldly. Lorella looked up to him, even though it felt like daggers through her heart, she had not expected anything else. It served her right, probably.

Tom glanced at her for a couple of seconds, watching her playing around with her skirt a little. While he thought of some things, it resulted in merely rolling his eyes, but he wrapped his arm around her swiftly, pulling her closer to whisper. "I'm sure we can find an agreement there, can't we, sweet Lorella?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm certain you are able to think of something to repay me for my generosity of letting you continue Divination." He said. Lorella watched him.

"You won't forbid it?" She asked.

"Surprise me." Said Tom finally. "And I'll think about it." He kissed her cheek, then got up, starting to walk off.

"W-wait. My wand..." Frowned Lorella when Tom was almost gone, only glancing behind.

"What do you need a wand for, looking into crystal balls?" Tom asked amused, then disappeared from view.

"What is this..." Lorella murmured out almost three hours later. "Professor Cayce. I feel like the answer lies before my eyes, all I have to do is putting the puzzle together. But I'm having trouble with that." Said Lorella.

"I will be with you in a second, Miss Fawst." Smiled Professor Cayce. She eventually sat down, frowning widely at the deck in front of the girl. She stared at it for a little while, then to Lorella. "Tell me what you see in those three cards." She said with a significantly dried out voice.

"The first card is a man facing seven cups, each filled with different things...Laurel, a serpent...and more. Next to it, ten of swords that show a man stabbed with each sword, and right next to that card...we have one from the major Arcana, the Devil..." Lorella shuddered a little. "I believe it means that...a person will make a wrong choice, that wrong choice...will lead to pain...and the one who caused it was nothing but evil...?" She asked, glancing to Professor Cayce, but the latter stared at Lorella with worry in her eyes.

"I must ask this, Miss Fawst. Does this deck concern you?"

Lorella looked up to her, then to her cards, keeping quiet when she wrote down into her notebook.

"You have to be careful. Very, very careful. Be wary of everything." Said Professor Cayce, and Lyra nodded. "I'm very bad at interpreting cards when it's about me."

"Sometimes we see more than we want to, and sometimes we are blind. Just keep your real eyes open, and watchful. Good luck, Miss Fawst." Said Cayce when the doorbell rang.

Seven of Cups. Ten of Swords. The Devil. No matter how she turned it and tried to talk herself into believing that it was all meaningless, Lorella knew there was something coming her way. She wandered around in the corridors in thought, but realized she went into the wrong direction and headed over to Transfiguration, hurrying into the classroom and sitting down with still too much in her mind. The cards never lied. A loud bang on her table made her jump in her seat, Tom let his bag fall onto the wooden surface; he seemed angered.

"Oh, s-sorry, I didn't see you, I had my head in the clouds..." She said, looking up into Tom's merciless eyes but he knew she was honest, so he sat down next to her without another word - on that topic, that is.

"Why, what did the crystal ball tell you?" Asked Tom with a smirk on his lips. Lorella just clicked her tongue. "Stop doing that..." She frowned, but Tom grinned faintly and handed over her wand. Lorella grabbed it just when Athan and a couple of other Ravenclaws entered the classroom, not seeing the girl at first and Tom stared warningly at Lorella, daring her to make any wrong move, but Athan spotted the girl after a second anyway.

"Hey, good morning." He smiled and sat down next to her, much to Tom's discomfort.

"Morning." Said Lorella softly, feeling Tom's hand on her thigh already; he did not want her to respond to Athan at all.

"How was your day so far?" Athan asked but Lorella acted like she didn't hear him and just randomly roamed around in her bag instead. Tom glanced over to the Ravenclaw and the latter glanced back, but nothing was said. Not with words, at least.

When Professor Dumbledore held his lesson in his usual manner, Tom could not help but notice that the old man looked his way a little too often. He felt strange, but did not let Dumbledore in on that, after all, Dumbledore saw how Lorella cuddled against Tom's chest yesterday during dinner; it was like the old man knew that Tom was not so innocent. And how troublesome was it, giving Dumbledore even more of a reason to keep an annoyingly close watch on him, as if he did not already do it anyway, especially after Myrtle. He had to be careful.

"Tom...Did you not hear?" Frowned Lorella when Tom did not move. He shook his head, looking up to her. "What?" He asked, appearing to be pulled out of deep thoughts.

"The bell rang." Said Lorella gently, handing him over his bag. He glanced at it, seeing his stuff was already packed up for him. With an amused expression, he wrapped his arm around her waist, turned around and walked off with her. At least she's trying, he thought.

"Lorella, wait!" Said a voice behind the two. Tom inhaled deeply with a clear annoyed tone when he stopped and turned around with Lorella, towering next to her like a tree that grew roots.

"You forgot a book." Said Athan as he walked up and held the book out for her.

"Oh-"

"Thanks, Cooper." Said Tom firmly, grabbing the book out of Athan's hand before he wrapped an arm around Lorella's shoulder, walking off with her. Lorella could not help but to glimpse back at Athan, who just stood there and watched them disappearing from view.

Lorella knew that Tom was fuming inwardly, he had his lips pressed together, and as always when he was deeply angered, most of it happened inside of his head for nobody to see. The tense atmosphere, however, would have been noticeable for her even if Tom didn't grip Lorella's wrist so tightly, leading her into Slughorn's classroom where he had not said a single world all the while during potions, and seemed even less talkative during the next week; something Lorella did not necessarily pity.

"Oh." Mumbled Lorella one evening during dinner, an envelope sat on her plate, as well as on Tom's, Avery's, Lestrange's, Mulciber's and Black's. All of them opened it up at the same time. Lorella started reading.

 _"Dear Miss Fawst,_

 _I would like to invite you to the Halloween-Ball taking place Sunday, 31st of October, 7 p.m. The dress code for the occasion is formal black or red. Feel free to invite a partner, as the Ball is a dance. Looking forward to seeing you,"_

 _Horace E. F. Slughorn"_

"Are we going?" Asked Lorella, glancing to Tom. He nodded.

"Of course we are." He said, but his eyes flickered over to Athan, who just read his invitation as well. Lorella watched him, then frowned, realizing that Tom asked her weeks ago to be his partner for the dance. How did he know Slughorn would plan a Ball if they only received their invitations just now?

"Sounds like it will be fun this time." Said Lestrange.

"Halloween is always fun. And I like the fact that we have no classes the other day." Grinned Mulciber, stretching a little.

"Did you not read?" Frowned Avery. "It says Ball." He shook his blond head. "I don't think I'm going."

"Don't be such a killjoy." Grumbled Black. "You'll have no problem finding a girl. None of us will."

"It's not that, I just can't dance." Avery murmured.

"You don't have to dance. You could just stand by the buffet and look good." Snickered Lestrange.

Lorella poked in her salad as she listened to the guys talking. Tom brushed some strands of hair behind Lorella's ear, stroking down her head a couple of times while he watched her eating; Lorella wondered why he was so affectionate out of a sudden, then noticed that Dumbledore looked at them for a bit before turning his head away - and that's when Tom stopped as well.

"It's been a week. Thought of a surprise yet?" Tom asked in the common room later. He and Lorella sat together on a couch; it was probably about midnight, nobody else was awake.

"It wouldn't be a surprise anymore if I told you." Said Lorella, though she was kind of hiding the fact that she just did not know how to positively surprise him. Then she realized one thing. He must know that. He knew she would not be able to think of something. He must have an idea of what he wants to be surprised with. And what did it matter if Lorella thought of something else instead? He would take whatever she had to offer, then propose his idea to her anyway. A win-win on his end. Lorella narrowed her eyes at that thought, but she felt herself pulled into Tom's arms, feeling his hot and damp breath on her neck.

"My question was...if you thought of a surprise yet...that just required a 'yes' or 'no'..." He murmured, but clearly grinned against her skin. "And I believe you have no clue at all. I let you study Divination and you thought you would forget about our deal, or maybe you just hoped."

"Fine. It's true that I don't know how to surprise you. I don't know you...at all, actually." She said, blinking a bit. She really knew nothing of Tom.

"I do have a suggestion." Tom said. Lorella chuckled, but it ended in a low huff. Of course he had a suggestion, he had it all along.

"I don't like the thought of knowing you'd spend your Christmas and holidays elsewhere, other than by my side..." Tom started, but Lorella snapped her head towards him, glaring, and suddenly raised her voice.

"You don't have to finish that line." She growled. "There is NO way I am staying here at Hogwarts during Christmas!"

Tom stared at her. He just did that, he just stared. Destiny counted the seconds, Lorella saw the boiling anger starting to reach its climax in Tom's pale face, it grew redder, his nostrils flared, he had his lips pressed together firmly which gave him a ghostly look because his high cheekbones were more prominent with this expression, and before Lorella could react, he suddenly and so quickly pushed her back onto the couch and lay on top of her, glaring into her eyes. "You will. And don't you!" He pulled her up, slapping her across the face, "ever dare to raise you voice again!"

Lorella just glared, however, said nothing, her nose tickled again, but she did not cry. No, she would not give him the tears he wanted to see her shed. Instead, she got up and sat down somewhere else, this time it was in a round niche with pillows, right in front of a tall window with a clear vision into the sea-scenery. She saw another Grindylow swimming, coming closer to the window. Although Lorella knew that these little sea-demons were quite aggressive, this one seemed familiar with faces. Tom watched her from afar, and while having his eyes narrowed, he said not a word, but frowned when Lorella suddenly turned around to him, gasping.

"That's how you knew I wasn't in the dormitory!" She said. "The Grindylows, right? I've seen one before I left that one morning, it must've somehow communicated with you when it swam over to your own window."

Tom grinned. "Not bad, Miss Fawst." He acknowledged. The Grindylow looked back and forth, swimming to the left and right, then off. It probably saw how Tom lingered behind Lorella, and before anything could have been done, firm lips were pressed against hers. Tom sat down, pulling Lorella into a passionate and longing kiss, pressing her to himself even more, as if something could rip her away, and he did not want to share. Out of a completely inexplainable, stupidly naive and possibly regrettable moment, Lorella looked into his eyes deeply, and kissed back. Tom smirked against her lips, stopped to breathe against her, then brought his lips back on hers again while his hand slowly wandered up her skirt, feeling her soft but warm skin. She panted nervously.

"Be gentle this time..." She whispered, but Tom pushed her back already, kissing down her cleavage while getting rid of every bit of fabric that was between himself and his prey.

"Ngh..." Lorella gritted her teeth a little later when Tom moved in and out of her, staring down into her eyes deeply as he pressed her further against the pillows. Lorella looked at him with a dreamy, cloudy vision, her cheeks were flushed pink; she had to admit that it felt incredibly good this time. Soft moans escaped her lips here and then while they were glued together, Tom kissed up and down her neck when he realized he was going to reach his climax soon, his panting became shorter but faster, Lorella panted along, they stared at each other with parted lips, then groaned, Lorella moaned softly when they shared an orgasm together - and Tom knew she was his, absolutely and finally.

Lorella dreamt of Tom again. He turned into a spider once more, but this time she was caught in his web.


	8. Scary surprises

AN: reviews would be very much appreciated! I find feedback to be enormously helpful. And motivating :)

"Argh!" Hissed Tom when the both of them were dressed again and he tried to grab Lorella's wand that he forgot to take earlier this day. A sizzling sound, the short flickering of bright light, and then the sharp pain through his fingers. He glared at the piece of wood on the floor, then looked at Lorella, who seemed amused and picked up her wand.

"It's Laurel wood." She said. Tom did not seem to understand, he observed his hand, then eyed up the wand curiously.

"Laurel wands are usually very loyal to their owners. It can sometimes happen that they attack non-masters if they try to take it away. They're moody."

Tom just narrowed his eyes, disliking this new information. So she knew this all along and did not feel obliged to tell him.

"Then why did it not attack me when I first took it from you?" He asked in a hiss.

"I thought about that. I thought I lost its trust when we dueled and you managed to win. But it seems to recognize me as its true master again."

"Then you will have to hand me the wand voluntarily." Said Tom with a glare. Lorella frowned, pressing the wand to her body.

"I am a witch." She whispered, narrowing her eyes but Tom walked closer, holding his hand out while he stared at her calmly - before the storm. Lorella looked at him, still clinging to her wand, shaking her head, but handed it over at last. The wand did not attack Tom this time, and Lorella felt like she gave away a loyal pet.

"Good girl." Said Tom, kissing her lips as a reward. "Go to bed now." He commanded sternly and nudged her ahead, rubbing his chin in thoughts as he watched Lorella walking over to her dormitory.

"Not yours. Mine." He said from afar. Lorella sighed, then opened the door to the boys's dormitory and cuddled down into Tom's bed, and suddenly realized. Maybe this is what the cards were trying to tell her. Tom made a wrong choice, he decided to go for the Laurel wand - and got metaphorically stabbed. But the card of the devil? Well, maybe it just meant that evil got what it deserved?

When Lorella walked out into the common room the next morning, she saw Tom already sitting on the couch with his back facing her, but he was not alone. In front of him were two more males, both of whom Lorella has never seen before. She stopped insecurely, frowning a bit when the two guys looked over to her, and Tom turned around by then.

"Ah. Lorella." He said. "Meet Nott" he pointed to one individual with dark hair and a bit of a tan. "and Rosier" he pointed to the other one with lighter hair and paler features.

"Hello sweet Lorella." Grinned Nott. Lorella shook her head, still not understanding.

"I did not see you here before." She said. Rosier chuckled and nodded. "Yes. We've been at the hospital. No need to go into detail." He added when Lorella opened her mouth to ask along, but then merely shrugged and decided to leave, after all, she did not want to be too friendly with them. Tom, however, did not agree with just letting her go.

"Lorella. Come back here." He said smoothly. The girl mumbled something under her breath that he could not hear, but eventually walked back to Tom, who had gotten up at this point and fixed her tie. Perfectionist.

"Do I not get a good-morning-kiss?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. Lorella looked at him and his unamused face, daring her to make him seem ridiculous in front of his 'friends'. She leaned in and kissed his lips before vanishing from view for Divination. Tom, however, sat back down.

"What did you find out." He asked calmly.

"She's a pureblood, both of her parents are, and we checked their parents, too. Her grandfather is Oktorus Greengrass, the Greengrass's belong to the pureblood Sacred Twenty-Eight." Said Nott. "He married whatever pureblood woman and together had a son, who's Lorella's father, Xander Fawst. Xander fell in love with a German woman somewhen in his youth, so he went all the way across the sea to Germany for her, Lorelei Tumalin, also pureblood. Lorelei was killed during the war, though, you know they went crazy there for not having pure muggle blood, pfhah. They thought Lorelei to be a Gypsy because of her affiliation with Divination, Tarot or whatever." Said Nott, shaking his head. "Lorella's mother died six months ago. Xander was unsuccessful in his political career of protecting the wizarding community of occasions like that, he held an important rank at the ministry, but the war has driven him out of the country, the Daily Prophet must have forgotten to mention that." Finished Nott.

"So." Tom said. "Her father moved back to Great Britain to protect his daughter from supremacists." Tom suddenly laughed, shaking his head at the irony. "Now that you two are out of the hospital again, we can all continue working on our plan on cleaning the world from filthy muggles." He narrowed his eyes. "Also. Keep a close watch on her, you two. And report to me frequently like the others do. Mulciber follows her each Monday, Lestrange on Tuesdays, Black each Wednesday, Avery Thursday. You, Nott, you will follow her around every Friday and Rosier takes over Saturdays. Sunday will be covered by me. And let me know especially when she talks to any other man." Tom rubbed his chin while his two comrades nodded.

A couple of days passed. Days in which nothing all too interesting happened. Riddle, instead of letting go of the leash a bit more, only pulled it tighter, if that was even possible. He did not allow her to stay with anyone to chat, not even the girls, and had special treatments prepared for her whenever she talked back just the slightest. Three days ago, he punished her for accidentally addressing him as "Tom" and not "my Lord". She couldn't sit on her bottom for days.

Lorella was currently busy in the library, feeling that was one of the few places where she could breathe for just a while without risking too much trouble. She knew she would have to leave soon, as it started to get dark outside already and dinner would be up, after all, she already missed lunch. Even though she saw Black looking up from his book every once in a while to see what she was doing, she did not allow herself to be distracted by that. She knew Tom would later on be infuriated once told that she did her course assignments alone and not with him. He had the annoying mindset that they should be doing their assignments together. Not only could Tom then control Lorella's thoughts on certain aspects they had to discuss, but he could also make sure she was not too outspoken, too much ahead of him - or too independent. When her eyes flickered over to Black again, she realized he was gone, which relieved her. She rested back, stretching a little before a hand on her shoulder caused her to jump in her seat. "I'm sorry!" Said Lorella quickly, knowing of the trouble ahead of her with Tom. But it was not Tom. It was Athan standing next to her with a soft smile.

"Easy, easy. It's just me. Finally catching you alone." He smiled and sat down at the table next to her.

"Are you okay?" He whispered, glancing to the side when he saw the librarian already close, raising an eyebrow at the two, but she recognized Lorella, knowing she was perfect Tom Riddle's girlfriend, and so she just smiled at the girl and nodded. Maybe Lorella would be allowed to hold a choir in the library now, too.

"I'm okay." Whispered Lorella. "How are you?"

Athan shook his head. "Okay does not sound so good." He said. "You look unhealthy, not to mention sick. You don't eat much during meals at the Great Hall and you seem enormously tense around Riddle. I'm not stupid..." He made attempts to look into her eyes when she tried to turn her face away. "He controls you, doesn't he? I see his friends lingering around wherever you are, he pulls you away from people whenever they try to talk to you. I waited until Black was gone to confront you now." He sighed when Lorella suddenly held her head in the both of her hands while her elbows rested on the desk, she started to sniffle, the hard shell was finally cracking. Athan rubbed her back softly, wanting to say something but he saw how Black had returned and watched Athan's hand gliding up and down Lorella's back before being pulled away.

"We can talk at the Ball" said Athan. "I will be there. That's the only place he can't pull you off somewhere else" he whispered softly and Lorella nodded, glancing at Athan when he packed his stuff and disappeared. Her eyes wandered over to Black, who rested in his chair and bit into an apple with a faint grin on his face that turned into a mocking kissy-mouth when Lorella glared at him and made a rude hand-gesture before she watched how he walked off with a smirk. Lorella continued her essays, remaining in the library for a while, trying to finishing her assignments as much as possible. But she couldn't concentrate anymore.

"Now, now, where off to, little serpent?" Black suddenly asked with a snickering sound as Lorella passed by. He casually pushed his body off of the wall; he must have lingered around there for a while to wait until he would see her, knowing she would take this route. He followed her out of the castle for some fresh air, strutting next to her, as if she invited him to join her taking a nice walk together.

"Can't you give me some rest, you little shit?!" She glared at him but he turned around to her, glaring back. "Watch it, Lorella. Watch your tone." He said dangerously. "Because I -am- entitled to discipline you, should l deem it necessary."

"Oh." Lorella snorted cynically. "Did your boss allow it, yes? You know what?! Tell him to go suck a dick!"

"Why don't you tell him yourself?" Asked Black with a grin, but he looked past Lorella, over her shoulder. The girl frowned and turned around.

Tom Riddle stood there.

"Such vulgar language." Tom sighed dramatically, shaking his head just when the lights around the castle sprang to life, giving him a ghostly look. "Not very ladylike, is it? Come. Let's take a walk." Tom said, his intense stare warned her to refuse. She looked around, back to Black, but the latter must have already walked off as soon as Tom appeared, judging by the distance he gained on them by now. Lorella sighed and walked off with Tom, though it felt like her legs were moving in water - her body refused to follow him.

"It's getting dark, we shouldn't be-"

"I hear Athan sought your company in the library, yes? Even tenderly rubbing your back when you thought that was the best moment to cry like a baby, pouring your heart out - all the while you were fully aware that I forbade you to be in any sort of contact with him."

Lorella said nothing.

"And the reason." Tom stopped in front of her. "You were in the library to begin with, was to finish your essays without me? Instead of going to lunch, where I was waiting for you? And then that attitude. Your foul language, and I hear you've been helping out a mudblood yesterday." Tom said calmly, shaking his head with a heavy sigh as he proceeded walking. "I have been too kind. Too easy on you. You need a firmer hand, my precious." He said, aiming far down towards a forest with her. Lorella frowned, feeling like she should not be here.

"Where are we going?" She asked timidly, feeling around her body for her wand but she sighed once she realized Tom had it.

"You will see." He said with a grin. "Come." He murmured and pressed his hand on her back to further shove her ahead into the darkness of the woods that was completely swallowing them. She looked around with big eyes, hearing some scary noises surrounding them. When she turned back around to look for Tom, she had to realize he was gone. Lorella frowned, turning every direction, trying to see where he was - but he disappeared. She was standing alone in the dark forest, freezing in the cold wind. She rubbed her shoulders, trying to find a way back out, but that was impossible - all she could see was a jungle of trees. She shuddered. Why did he do that? Did he want her to die out here? Lorella began to feel enormously nervous now. A loud howling sound caused her to gasp, she turned around and tried to see what was going on or what it was, but she could not see it. Her heart started beating faster when sudden scattering sounds came closer.

Her eyes widened.

A spider of sorts she had never seen in her life before, as tall and wide as seven people, big and hairy, towered in the distance in front of her, focusing on the girl. Lorella stepped backwards, shaking her head, hoping this wasn't real and then suddenly, the spider moved. It slowly moved towards the girl, Lorella pressed her back against a tree, her skin lost all its color, she was as white as a ghost, scared to death. The spider stopped, Lorella panted heavily with her shocked and dilated eyes, she knew if she made a wrong move now, it would attack. But fear was a naive fool, getting the best of her, she screamed on the top of her lungs and suddenly dashed away - the spider followed its prey quickly, right after her, almost catching the for life-fearing girl. It took Lorella some time to hear the laughter.

"Run, sweet Lorella, run. You don't want it to catch you, do you?" Asked Tom. Lorella looked around, not knowing where his voice came from, but then she realized it came from inside her head.

"Acromanta's favorite meals are bad girls." Said Tom in amusement.

"PLEASE!" Lorella screamed. "Please, help me!" She yelped with a panicked and tear-drowned voice, but Tom only laughed harder.

"I'M SCARED! COME HERE, it will kill me! Please, it's over there! DO YOU WANT ME TO DIE?! COME HERE! PLEASE!" Lorella screeched shrilly.

"Will you be a good girl?"

"Y-yes! Please, PLEASE come here!"

"Please what?" Tom laughed again.

"PLEASE, MY LORD!" Lorella screamed when the spider was suddenly in front of her, jumping up towards the girl. Lorella fell to the ground with her arms trying to protect her head when a shrill flash of light pushed the spider back through the air - it lay on the ground motionlessly. Lorella panted, her shocked eyes were still fixed on the dead, hairy creature while Tom crouched down to her level, brushing away strands of hair from her scared face. Lorella cried bitterly against his chest the next moment, feeling Tom's arms around her shaking frame. She did not see how Tom raised his thumbs up in the distance at Black, who had his wand in his hand and moved it from the left to the right - and another big spider next to him moved back into the woods at this command.

The following days, Lorella was the nicest girl Tom could have imagined.

"Hapshoo!" It came from the girl's dormitory Saturday morning. Lorella lay in her bed, curled up into the blankets. Mathilda and Amanda glanced over to her, but walked out with Phina, not exactly caring about Lorella, who coughed a little by now and pressed herself back into the bed.

"Why are you in here! You have been in my bed, then sneaked into your own?!" Hissed Tom a little later, walking into the dormitory with heavy footsteps. "You will regret-" but he stopped when he saw the little heap of Lorella stuffed in the blanket with her pale face, red nose and tired eyes. He sat down by the edge of her bed. "You caught a cold." He said with a raised eyebrow.

"Thanks to the little adventure in the cold forest. And I sneaked in here to make sure you wouldn't catch a cold, too." Coughed Lorella, turning away from him but he only grinned. "Serves you right, don't you think?" He asked. Lorella wanted to say 'No', but then realized that being sick had its advantages. He wouldn't touch her.

"You should go to Madam Pomfrey." Tom said. "She will get you healthy. A cold is something only stupid muggles have to endure. Come." He said, raising up from the bed. Lorella looked at him, trying to move, but she lay back down.

"I can't, I'm feeling too dizzy" she sighed softly whereas Tom glared, rolling his eyes.

"Don't be such a crybaby! Get up now." He murmured and watched how Lorella tried to climb out of the bed but swayed to the left and could only just catch her balance by clinging to the bed. Tom had to admit that she wasn't acting it up, she was indeed feeling like shit. With an annoyed grumble, he pushed her back and tucked her into the bed, coldly glancing into her eyes as he fixed the blanket for her.

"Fine. Then I will bring Pomfrey here." He said, and vanished from view. If Lorella did not know that Tom only wanted her to feel better for the Ball tomorrow, and to fulfill her 'duties' as a girlfriend, she would have thought him to be caring for just a moment. But she knew better.

"I'm not going to wear a red tie!" Growled Black at Amanda Sunday evening. Halloween.

"Why not? I will be wearing a red dress myself, Avery is going to wear something red as well."

"Wear whatever you want to, Tewon, but I am not going to wear filthy Gryffindor colors. I'll go with black. Black. Like my name, got it? Good. Are you ready, Yaxley?" He grumbled as he checked his reflection in the tall mirror of the common room, looking over to Mathilda, who nodded at him, standing there with a long black dress.

Lorella was sitting on the bed, staring at the closet's mirror for the longest time. She had her black hair in an elegant wavy Updo, the dark red lipstick on her full lips gave her pale skin some sort of glow. Tom told her to wear a strapless black dress that reached to the floor and looked extremely good on Lorella and her soft curves. She waited on him - and he swept into the dormitory a second later, charmingly handsome as always in his dark attire. He did not even glance at Lorella when he walked over to her closet, opening it, his eyes wandered to the left and right until he nodded approvingly.

"You got rid of the dresses finally." He said, turning to her. His eyes wandered up and down her body, he seemed pleased with what he saw. "Let's go." He said.

Tom and his gang walked downstairs with their girls, passing by the other students that all stopped and stared at their glow of elite. Lorella disliked the feeling, but it came along with being Riddle's girlfriend - or property, the difference was only clear to her and those that knew Tom's true face.

"Ahhhhh! So good to see you, welcome back Rosier, Nott! Did they treat you right at St Mungo's?" Slughorn smiled brightly at everyone. Lorella looked around the large room, it seemed a lot bigger than the last time. It looked fantastic, everything was decorated in black and red colors but not too overly Halloween-like. Pumpkins flew above their heads, but other than that, it looked more elegant than scary. An enormous buffet was built up around the walls, the middle of the room was free, for the dance later, Lorella thought.

Tom and the rest were engaged in a conversation with Slughorn while Lorella just stood there, feeling as though she wasn't real yet again, as if she was wearing a mask that started to lose flexibility. Yes, a couple of days ago she thought it was easier to deal with her situation by making herself believe that she wanted it too, wanted Tom, even giving it a chance. But it was a lie, a big fat roaring lie. Tom was intimidating in every way - extreme. All she could hope for, and Amanda was right when she said it, was the year to finally be over. Tom would not see her again, she was sure of it, after all, they wouldn't be in Slytherin anymore. Then again, does somebody ever stop being a Slytherin?

"Miss Fawst? Did you not hear?" Asked Slughorn. Tom nudged her gently, though rudely in his own way.

"Hm? What? I'm sorry, I was distracted by...by ehh-"

"I asked what your plans are for the time after Hogwarts." Smiled Slughorn. "Surely you will try to work at the ministry like your father does, probably like Tom, too, will choose a job at the ministry, right, Riddle?" He smiled at the couple. Tom shook his head, rubbing the back of Lorella's hand with his thumb. "We don't know yet, Professor. Isn't that right, dear?"

"Pretty much, yes." Said Lorella. It was the truth, actually. She did not know what she wanted to do after Hogwarts.

"Ahh, but you still have time to decide, you two." Smiled Slughorn, then looked over to the door, greeting Athan with a welcoming hand gesture. "Cooper, good to see you!" He cheered. "You brought no partner?" Slughorn frowned in suspicion while Tom Riddle's gang chuckled mischievously.

"Nobody wanted Cooper..." Grinned Avery, earning nodding of approval from the rest, but Lorella couldn't help but say "I'm sure he could have any girl he wanted."

The look on Tom's face was indescribable, but only because Lorella did not dare to turn her head to see it, although she felt his hand squeezing hers painfully tight while he whispered to her. "We will talk about that later."

"Can't we just forget it..." Whispered Lorella back but Tom paid her a pitiful smile. "Lord Voldemort never forgets." He said, kissing her cheek luringly.

"Tom, not so private, not so private, you have her all for yourself, don't you boy, but let us all have a bit of Lorella." Snickered Slughorn and Tom smiled politely, walking closer to the new circle of people again. They continued to chatter lightly and laugh at random jokes that Slughorn told, while the music played in the back of the room. The evening proceeded with enough of wine for some students to finally try out dancing. There were about twenty pairs in the room's center, moving to the music. Almost everyone tried their best, aside from Athan and most of Tom's gang. Lorella couldn't help but chuckle at Lestrange's funny attempts of dancing with Phina - and the both of them looked pretty unlucky on the dance floor, much to the rest of the gang's amusement. Black burst out laughing, almost pouring half of his wine over Lorella as he stood next to her, Tom managed to pull her away just in time, while Nott and Rosier threw their heads back and clung to their stomachs. Tom must have been feeling like the honor of Slytherin was at great risk, at least that's the only explanation Lorella could come up with when he stood in front of her and pulled her to the room's center while staring into her eyes with the faintest of grins as some students made room for Hogwarts's celebrity couple.

"N-no, really, we can't, can we?" Whispered Lorella.

"Let me lead you." Tom said and took a stance. The others watched curiously as Tom put his hand on the girl's hip, and lead Lorella to the soft tune of music - they looked downright incredible together. Slughorn squeaked out in joy so much that his voice made a looping crack as he clapped. Lorella, though, just wanted to disappear on the spot while she was forced to stare into Tom's eyes for so long with everybody's admiring expressions following the two of them; loud clapping erupted when the music stopped and thus, their dance. Tom winked at Lorella and she sighed but forced a smile, nodding shyly at a couple of students to thank them.

"So beautiful together!" Cheered Slughorn. Lorella sighed, exhausted from his teenage-like joy towards her own worst nightmare. They had no clue. Nobody.

Maybe somebody.

Athan.

Lorella glanced over to Athan when the latter walked towards the buffet where Lorella was standing, looking for something to drink.

"You look absolutely gorgeous tonight, Miss Fawst, if I may say so." Smiled Athan as he kissed the back of Lorella's hand. Tom, having thought Lorella to be by his side, watched the two of them with an expression that could've set heaven alight or freeze hell, but Slughorn only thought it to be enormously funny.

"Oh, oh, Riddle, you better keep an eye on your woman, hah!" Laughed Slughorn while hiccuping once, emptying his wine the next moment.

"Oh. I am, Sir..." Murmured Tom promising as he watched Lorella from afar, nodding over at Black and Mulciber, who then casually wandered over to Lorella and Athan across the room, filling their plates with some food from the buffet right behind the two.

"Yes, that wine looks really good, where did you get it?" Asked Lorella while eying up the golden cup of wine that Athan held in his hand.

"It's over there at the other side of the room.

Here, take this, I'll get myself a new one." Smiled Athan, then handed Lorella over his cup.

Nothing could've been changed of what happened next. Mulciber and Black both yelled "No!", but it was too late. Lorella had already brought Athan's cup to her lips and nipped on the wine. Tom's eyes widened as he just watched the girl crashing down to the floor, laying there motionlessly.


	9. Seven of Cups, Ten of Swords, The Devil

The whole gasping and loud chattering must have happened in a different sphere for Tom when he saw Lorella on the ground. He quickly ran over to her, pushing away Athan. Slughorn followed, kneeling down to Lorella with Tom.

"What happened, what happened?"

"Is she okay?"

"Is she dead?!"

"She was standing next to me, all fine!"

The voices around did not seem to stop. Black and Mulciber tried to help Slughorn and Tom carrying Lorella out of the room and into the hospital wing, with a crowd of students following and watching.

"Get out!" Hissed Riddle suddenly, aiming his wand at the approaching bunch of students trying to get a first look on Lorella - but Tom closed the door to the hospital wing for nobody to enter anymore. He panted heavily. This can't be.

"What happened, Horace?" Asked a young healer, she must be in her early twenties. She walked up and looked at the sleeping Lorella in the bed.

"I-I don't know Poppy, she dropped to the floor and did not budge anymore!" Said Slughorn with an upset and shaken voice as Lorella was put into the bed. Tom's gaze wandered over to Black and Mulciber, who stared down at Lorella with eyes wide open and the least bit of color Tom has ever seen on them. And then there was still Athan, next to Lorella on her left side. Athan. Tom glared his way, his nostrils started to flare in anger. It was his fault.

"What happened, tell me what happened." Said Madam Pomfrey, looking at the guys. "What happened last? Anything?"

"She drank some wine-" started Athan.

"From your cup." Said Tom firmly. "You gave her your wine. And then she dropped to the ground." Tom narrowed his eyes, but could not help smirking inwardly. This did not go as planned - sure, but if he could get rid of Athan this way by framing him, why not, it wouldn't be the first time he framed somebody.

Madam Pomfrey and Slughorn eyed up Athan suspiciously - but the latter just glared at Tom.

"You're not going to paint me a devil, Riddle!" He suddenly yelled. "Whatever it was in the cup, was supposed to go down MY throat, wasn't it!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Glared Tom. "Care to explain?" He added sharply.

"You can't fool me, Riddle. Your jealousy got the best of you, didn't it." Growled Athan.

"But this is sheer insanity, Cooper." Said Slughorn with a large frown. "Tom was standing and talking with me when it happened, he couldn't have done something like that. And I assure you and everyone else that needs to be assured - that Riddle would never do something like that, that's a very harsh accusation, Cooper. No, let us not think of anything like that."

"But we have seen Cooper around Lorella a lot." Said Black, glancing at Tom, then back to Athan. "Maybe jealousy is the right keyword."

"Yes, me too." Said Mulciber then, nodding.

"This is ridiculous!" Thundered Athan. "He forbade her to speak to me!"

"Because he saw you sneaking around his girlfriend all the time." Glared Black. "Anyone would have wanted their girlfriend to avoid such people, given that circumstance. And when she can't move her body, she can't fight you, right? What a clever plan, trying to get her when we all have a party, have something to drink, and would maybe not even realize that you're dragging her away..."

Tom could not have been more pleased when he saw Slughorn and Madam Pomfrey's expressions. Athan had his eyes widened but he was so taken aback and shocked that all he could do was shaking his head.

"I-I believe this is a case for headmaster Dippet. Mulciber, go fetch him." Said Slughorn and Mulciber nodded, running out of the hospital wing; quickly closing the door when the voices from outside were too loud. People were still waiting for news, after all.

While Slughorn and Madam Pomfrey had a quiet conversation a little off, Tom and Athan shared an intense stare down. Athan glowered at Tom and into his cold eyes, glaring when he suddenly saw the faintest and most evil of smirks on Tom's lips. But it vanished as soon as Slughorn turned around back to them.

"There could be a variety of potions used on her, only the...culprit may now." Said Slughorn and he couldn't help but glance at Athan.

"Professor. It wasn't me, I promise." Said Athan softly but Slughorn shook his head. "That lies not in my power to decide, Cooper." He said distantly, then looked over to the door that opened. Tom, pleased until the second he saw who walked in, had to suppress an internal urge of growling once he realized that headmaster Dippet was accompanied by no other than Albus Dumbledore.

"Ah, Armando." Said Slughorn with a sigh, nodding at Dumbledore, who stared at Lorella, and almost instinctively, his eyes met Tom's. Tom looked at him but did not say anything, he walked over to Lorella and held her hand softly, rubbing it.

"And you said it was likely to be a potion, Horace?" Asked Dippet a while later after having been told everything, looking to the girl, then he sighed when Slughorn nodded.

"Professor." Said Athan then. "You have to believe me, I did not poison her or use anything against her to...to do whatever." Said Athan, almost helplessly looking between Dumbledore and Dippet. Dippet sighed, inhaling deeply, shaking his head, indicating that he did not know what to believe.

"Get the cup." Said Dumbledore suddenly. "If it's still in the room, bring it here. No, not you, Black. Athan. You go ahead and bring me the cup, please." He said softly. Athan nodded and jumped up on an instant, walking out of the hospital wing.

"What do you think, Albus?" Asked Dippet with a face drenched in nothing but worry.

"I'm afraid I cannot tell yet. But I am certain that the truth of events will come to light." Dumbledore declared in his old voice of wisdom. Tom tried to avoid looking at him at all costs when that was said, he continued rubbing Lorella's hand.

"She...she will come back, right?" Asked Tom softly, suddenly. Everyone's heads turned his way, Slughorn sighed audibly.

"Oh my dear boy. I promise everything will be done to bring her back, Tom." Said Slughorn, rubbing Tom's back soothingly.

"Poor boy, after such a difficult life he found love and now this, this is devastating" said Madam Pomfrey as Slughorn nodded.

A second later, Athan walked back into the hospital wing, the cup in his hand. He handed it over to Professor Dumbledore, who sniffed at it, but gave it to Professor Slughorn.

"Oh." Said Slughorn with a frown. "The Draught of Living Death?" He asked. Dumbledore nodded. Tom's eyes wandered over to Black at that moment - he seemed a little confused, but Black shrugged with his eyes widened as they went to the left and right in a "I don't know how this happened" manner.

"Well, then it's clear." Smiled Slughorn and patted Tom's back reassuringly. "We can get her back in no time at all, Tom. The Wiggenweld potion will wake her up. Now, I wonder if you wish to brew it yourself and wake up your princess? Such a fine potion's master surely wouldn't want anyone else to be the hero of the day." Snickered Slughorn. Tom smiled politely, squeezing Lorella's hand as he nodded. "Of course Professor. Can I use the potion's classroom immediately?"

"I believe." Said Dumbledore before headmaster Dippet could say something. "That Miss Fawst deserves a good amount of sleep before being so nastily waken up without knowing what happened. Let her rest for the night."

Tom looked at Dumbledore with an expression that told nothing, but still enough. Dumbledore did not want Lorella to be back so soon, why, Tom could almost imagine. Dumbledore grew suspicious of him, there was no way around it.

"But I could brew the potion tonight, could I not, Sir? So to wake her up tomorrow right away?" Asked Tom. He saw that, if the decision lay in Dumbledore's hand, he would have told Tom to go to bed instead, but headmaster Dippet nodded.

"Of course, of course. This is an exception. I will allow you brewing the potion tonight, Tom. I'm certain you wouldn't find any rest otherwise."

"Thank you, Sir."

"But I deem it the best choice if you were not alone. Ehh, Horace, if you could look after Tom tonight-"

"But yes, yes, of course. I will- well. Shall we go, Riddle? Come." Slughorn said and Tom nodded, walking out of the hospital wing with one last glance towards Dippet, who talked to Athan now while Dumbledore stared at the peacefully asleep Lorella. Black walked on out of the hospital wing as well.

"You know where the cauldron and ingredients are. I would recommend the Grand Wiggenweld potion instead, Tom. As we do not know who brewed the Draught, it might be more powerful for what we know..." Slughorn sighed.

"Professor. May I seek your personal opinion on the matter?" Asked Tom, looking up to Slughorn. "Do you believe Athan Cooper is the one responsible for this?"

"Well, Tom..." Sighed Slughorn, glancing to the left and right. "I did see him trying to make some, how shall I say, moves and- well, he kissed her hand, I very well remember telling you to keep an eye on her, and then it happened after she had a sip of his cup, I must say these occasions make it difficult to believe he did not, well. I am actually not allowed to be telling you my thoughts on that, Tom."

"But Sir. We shared a secret before...and I appreciate the opinion of an expert. I highly value your views on events, Professor, I have always done so." Said Tom. "My girlfriend has been poisoned and I see it as my personal responsibility to make sure that justice will succeed."

"I understand, Riddle. Well. I am certain that, the way things look" Slughorn now whispered and leaned in to Tom. "Cooper will not stay here at Hogwarts. Which" he raised his eyebrows and leaned back again, "so close to graduating must be extremely troublesome, and considering his top grades in almost any subject, especially bitter...but you see, even the best students can carry darkness we know nothing of, right? Oh." Slughorn glanced over to the door that opened slightly.

"Mulciber, Black. It's late, you should be in the common room." Frowned Slughorn and Tom looked up from his cauldron.

"Sorry, Sir. We did not mean to disturb." Said Black. "Just looking after Tom." Added Mulciber.

"Ah, I understand. Tom almost had a great loss to fear, yes. Well...my dear boy." He patted Tom's shoulder. "I trust you three with the potion's classroom. Just be quiet."

"Thank you, Professor. Feel free to go to sleep. I will, of course, clean up as soon as I'm done."

"I know, Tom, I know, you always did. Good night." Slughorn yawned, then vanished from view. Mulciber and Black waited until the door closed, then instantly hurried over to Tom who seemed infuriated beyond measure.

"Are you too stupid to pick a correct phial from my closet?!" He hissed at them. "You were supposed to pick the Drink of Despair!"

"Sorry! They were both clear!" Frowned Black.

"Cooper could be dead by now." Murmured Tom angrily. "This was the perfect chance to test my potion on him!"

"But if it had been the correct potion, Lorella would be dead! We did not think as far as thinking he could offer his cup to her." Said Mulciber. "Besides, we tried to frame him for you."

"Yeah." Murmured Tom. "Well done on that part." He looked to them. "But I don't want Cooper just gone. I want him -dead-." He said finally, adding the last ingredient into the cauldron.

Lorella, asleep and completely oblivious to what happened around her, could of course not see what happened in the hospital wing. Tom Riddle stood in front of her bed in the darkness, his merciless eyes wandered up and down the girl. He stood there for a while, just staring before he finally sat down on her bed, rubbing his hand through her hair, but could not suppress a smirk.

"You can't escape me." He whispered. "But you almost managed it, hm? I wonder...if it's your luck...or misfortune that my henchmen were too stupid to pick the right potion..." He purred, kissing Lorella's cheek. His hand rubbed down her shoulder and he could not help the temptation as he squeezed her breast firmly, but noticed something sounded odd. It sounded like paper. He pulled on the top part of her dress, seeing a little note hidden there. With a curious frown, he got out the piece of paper and fixed her dress to the right position before he sat up and unfolded the paper, but footsteps distracted him, and he quickly put it away, got up from the bed and marched out of the hospital wing as fast as possible, not seeing that Professor Dumbledore caught a glimpse of him before he looked over into the hospital wing only to see Lorella still asleep.

Once Tom was back inside the common room, he pulled out the note that he got from Lorella, unfolding it. He raised an eyebrow when he read.

"Second Divination lesson:

Seven of Cups, Ten of Swords, The Devil.

Choosing something wrong, dreadful, that will lead to pain, misery, or maybe even death. Evil is its cause. - ask Athan's opinion"

Tom shook his head, running a hand through his hair. So Lorella wanted to ask Athan's opinion on this during the Ball. But of course, Tom had other plans.

Divination might be more interesting than he had expected.


	10. Patient, Riddle

The early next morning came, and suddenly it was Monday.

Lorella still lay in the bed motionlessly, asleep, but peacefully so. Madam Pomfrey waved Tom by when she saw him, but she vanished into her office as Tom marched into the hospital wing and sat down by Lorella's bed, staring at her for a while. So close. So close to losing her. And now waking her up lay in his hands. He liked he feeling. Her life. In his hands. Right now. But it was time to get the little serpent back. He pulled the antidote out of his cloak, rubbed the liquid on his mouth and kissed Lorella with his lips covered in the potion of Wiggenweld.

After a moment of curious awaiting, Lorella blinked her eyes open, and the first thing she saw was the scary gaze of Tom, who pulled his head back the next moment, smiling brightly with his white teeth. "Good morning, my precious."

"Wh-where am I? What...what happened?" Lorella asked with a croaking voice, looking around carefully. Tom was reminded of a curious kitten when he watched her inspecting her environment.

"You are in the hospital wing." He said. Lorella frowned.

"What? Why?" She asked hastily, looking down her body to check if everything was in place. Of course it was. Tom leaned closer to her, sighing a bit as he kissed her cheek.

"Athan." He started. "Do you remember how he handed you his cup of wine yesterday?" Asked Tom. Lorella nodded. "Yes."

"He put a potion in it to make you submissive to him." He rubbed through Lorella's hair. But Lorella frowned. Could Athan have done that? She looked up into Tom's eyes, shaking her head in disbelief.

"No...he would never do something like that..." She croaked.

"But he did. You know I never liked him. It appears my dislike for him was actually necessary." He sighed. "Seven of Cups, Ten of Swords, the Devil." Said Tom suddenly - Lorella's eyes widened, but Tom explained before she could say something.

"I found the note when we carried you into the hospital wing, it fell out of your dress." He said gently, tucking some strands of hair behind her ear. "I know what you think. I know you think I wanted this to happen...you and I...have had an unsettling start. But I was so worried about you..." Tom paused. "I thought I'd lose you. And when I found that note - everything made sense..." Tom looked deeply into her eyes, pressing his forehead against hers while whispering "I could not lose you..."

Lorella just stared at him, some tears ran down her cheeks. "Athan really tried that...?" She asked, shaking her head. So this is what the cards meant.

"He did." Said Tom, brushing away her tears with his thumbs. "He played nice, thought that if he acted like he understood you, understood the pain you went through because of me...you see. He used the situation I put you in to wrap you around his finger." Tom narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "I went too far. I realized and." He paused yet again. "I will and...I probably cannot ask your forgiveness. But I will promise to change if you can promise to give it another chance. And maybe...with some luck on my end...you can forgive me for what I have done to you. Someday." Said Tom. Lorella's eyes twinkled as she looked him in the eyes and Tom smiled softly at her.

"You mean a lot to me, sweet Lorella..." He whispered against her lips before kissing her dearly in his firm but soft way. Lorella closed her eyes, gave in, and kissed him back finally. Everything in her head swirled and turned - and she was still too confused to give everything enough thought, but it felt good, and things that felt good could not be that wrong, could they? Tom pulled away from her lips a little while later.

"So what do you say?" He asked. "Do you think you and I...should start over new again?" He asked, lacing his hand in hers. Lorella wiped away a tear, but she smiled, then nodded and threw her arms around Tom, who pressed her against his chest firmly while rubbing up and down her back - and a devilish smirk started to creep up his lips. He pulled away after a second, kissing above her temple. "There's a surprise for you."

"What?-"

"Lorella!" Said a voice from across the room suddenly. Lorella gasped and Tom got up from the bed, revealing view to the door.

"Daddy!" Squeaked Lorella and jumped up while Tom watched the tall and dark haired man walking over to his daughter, hugging her tightly.

"Headmaster Dippet told me everything about what happened. Oh I'm so glad you are okay!" Said Mr. Fawst, holding his crying daughter in his arms. Tom watched them for a second as he stood in the distance with his arms behind his back, then started to walk off slowly.

"T-Tom, wait, you can stay here, it's okay! Daddy, this is Tom-"

"Tom and I have met outside." Said Mr. Fawst with a smile. Lorella couldn't help but frown suspiciously when she heard her father going on.

"He's a very kind and smart, young man. Tom, I couldn't thank you properly but." Mr. Fawst got up from the bed, shaking Tom's hand firmly with both hands. "You are a hero, Tom Riddle. Not only did you brew the potion to get my daughter back, but you also helped finding the culprit. I could not thank you enough. If there is something I can do for you, please don't be shy to ask."

Lorella's eyebrows contacted in concentration.

"Please, Sir. It was the least I could do. I will never forgive myself, letting this happen while I was with Lorella..." Tom shook his head with a strong sigh.

"Do not worry. You could not have foreseen that this Cooper would try something as ignoble as that, no. My boy, tell me, could I express my sincere thankfulness by inviting you over for a dinner at my house, maybe somewhen during Christmas holidays? I'm certain your family would want you for yourself, so I understand if you'd rather wish to stay with them."

"Oh." Smiled Tom shyly. "I don't have a home to go to, Sir, and no family that waits for me."

Mr. Fawst, and Lorella too, frowned. He glanced over to his daughter, then back to Tom again, patting his shoulder gently.

"I am very sorry to hear that. If you wish, and I am sure Lorella would be happy about it, you could... stay with us for Christmas? Only if you want to, my boy."

Tom looked up, a soft smile embellished his pale skin, his eyes wandered over to Lorella, who looked over to him curiously, but then back to Mr. Fawst.

"That would...be my first Christmas spent with a family, Sir. I feel honored." Said Tom softly and Mr. Fawst patted his shoulder with a smile again before he turned back to his daughter, who looked at Tom with some sort of expression that he did not know to interpret, but she smiled at her father the next moment, closing her eyes when he cupped the side of her head softly.

A minute later, Professor Dumbledore walked into the hospital wing accompanied by Professor Dippet; both shaking Mr. Fawst's hand before looking to Lorella.

"Good to have you back, Miss Fawst." Smiled Dumbledore and sat down on a stool next to the bed. "We will have to question you about yesterday evening, however."

Lorella nodded, straightening her back while her father rubbed her shoulder gently.

"Mr. Riddle, would you please leave the hospital wing?" Asked Dumbledore, glancing over to Tom, who did not seem too impressed hearing this, but his face did not show.

"Sir, I was there too, wouldn't it be best-"

"We already know your opinion on events, Tom. Thank you kindly for that. But now, I would like to hear what Miss Fawst has to say." He smiled politely. Tom bit the inside of his bottom lip, but nodded, smiling at Mr. Fawst the next moment.

"We will probably not see each other anymore today, Sir. Have a nice day." Said Tom and bowed slightly before walking backwards, then turned away, and disappeared.

"Well, Miss Fawst." Sighed Dumbledore. "I will have to be honest, it does not look good for Mr. Cooper. Did you, perhaps, see him adding anything into the cup before he handed it over to you?"

"No, Sir. It is very difficult for me to imagine Athan doing something like that but..." She lowered her head, wondering if it was wise to mention the Tarot cards, but decided against it.

"But what, Miss Fawst?" Asked Professor Dumbledore. Lorella shook her head. "Nothing, Sir. I just don't know what to believe."

"Of course it must have been Cooper. A lot of men can act nice, manipulating women." Said Mr. Fawst.

"I am certain that there, indeed, are a lot of men interested in doing that with Miss Fawst. The question is, if Athan Cooper is one of those." Sighed Dumbledore.

"But again, it's Tom Riddle's word against Cooper's, and Mulciber and Black swore that they had seen Mr. Cooper adding something into said cup." Added headmaster Dippet. "Valuable information."

"So we have two witnesses." Said Mr. Fawst. Dumbledore just paid him a tired smile, but his old eyes rested on Lorella, who knew exactly that there was no difference between witness or henchman for Tom Riddle.

"I believe in Athan's innocence." Said Lorella suddenly and firmly. Dippet and Mr. Fawst both looked at Lorella with a large frown.

"But clearly everything speaks against his innocence, Miss Fawst." Dippet. "It is not the first time that we have been wrong about a student..."

"And clearly not the last time." Said Dumbledore wisely.

"Facts are facts, Dumbledore. Two witnesses, and Slughorn saw Cooper kissing Lorella's hand." Frowned Dippet.

"We had no witnesses yesterday, and I am certain we will have even more by tomorrow." Said Dumbledore. Of course. The more influence Tom has on people...

"I want this Cooper boy to be punished for what he has done to my daughter." Said Mr. Fawst sternly, pressing Lorella's head against his chest. "Anything else will look ridiculous, if the school proceeds without any consequences for this event."

"I understand, Xander." Said Dippet. "I understand."

"But." Frowned Lorella. "Even if Athan did use that potion, which I highly doubt, why could we not just disregard it as a prank?"

"Because the Draught of Living Death is a famous potion for drugging witches into sexual acts against their will, Miss Fawst." Said Dippet. "That potion was not added to the cup to watch somebody falling asleep."

"But how forbidden can it be when students are asked to brew it during potions?" Asked Lorella. Both Dumbledore and Dippet frowned.

"Professor Slughorn lets this potion be brewed in his lessons?" Asked Dippet.

"Outrageous!" Exclaimed Mr. Fawst when Lorella nodded. "Yes, Sir. He of course told us to be careful and told us everything about the risks, but-"

"But Horace trusts his students too much." Said Dumbledore, sighing with an understanding nod. "He did not mean any harm to happen, Armando."

"I know, I know." Dippet waved him off. "I will have a serious conversation about that with him, however."

"But then it's clear. That's how Cooper had easy access to the potion." Concluded Mr. Fawst.

"Sadly", started Dumbledore, "not only Mr. Cooper."

"Well." Said Dippet. "As we now know of Lorella's version, we should talk to Cooper's parents. Mr. Cooper's family is waiting outside. Come, Albus. Ah, Xander, it's best if you did join us, yes. Oh, Madam Pomfrey will be in her office if you need her, Miss Fawst." Said Dippet, getting up.

Lorella's father gave her one last kiss on her forehead before he got up and walked out of the hospital wing. Lorella felt horrible. She knew Athan would have never done that, but how could she prove it? Mulciber and Black said they saw him adding something into the cup. Strange, though. They surely could not have known that Athan would offer his cup to Lorella - did Tom want exactly this to happen? Or was everything completely wrong - was Tom, in fact, honest this time, did he really want to change after realizing he could have lost Lorella? And hearing he had no family, was that the reason why he was so controlling, possessive, and obsessed with her? After all, she was everything he had. Her head hurt. What was right, what was wrong?

"Madam Pomfrey?" Asked Lorella a little later, knocking on her door.

"Yes, dear?" She smiled up from her desk. "Good to see you're up on your feet already."

"I feel...normal again. Can I leave the hospital wing?"

Madam Pomfrey sighed, looking up to the clock, then to Lorella.

"Almost lunch time, I'm sure you want to sit with your friends. Alright. But do take it easy." She said sternly and Lorella nodded. "Thanks for everything"

"Oh, do not thank me, thank Mr. Riddle, he brewed the potion to get you back after all. He's been in the potion's classroom all night long, said Professor Slughorn." Madam Pomfrey smiled dreamily. "True love..." She mumbled, then waved Lorella off. "You can go, dear."

"Ohhhh hissy Missy is back from creepy, sleepy?" Laughed Peeves above Lorella's head, following the girl all the way down into the dungeons as he sang along.

"Hiiiisssyyyy Miiiiisssyyy is back, is back, is baaaaack! Oh no! No kissy hissy Missy!" Shrieked Peeves when Tom rounded the corner and pulled Lorella in a passionate kiss.

"Tom..." She said in surprise. He looked at her; his face made a slight twitch at the name but he smiled nonetheless. "It's good to have you back." He murmured.

"I wanted to take a shower and change into normal clothes." Said Lorella; she was still wearing the dress, after all. Tom nodded, rubbing her shoulder as he accompanied her walking into the common room, where he waited.

"So." Frowned Tom as he sat on the couch in front of Mulciber.

"They didn't find anything today when they've searched our closets, did they?"

"Of course not." Grinned Mulciber and poured in some Firewhiskey for the both of them. Tom smirked a little as he brought the glass to his lips, then rested his head back and closed his eyes. All he had to do was wait - and be a little patient.

"It's still troublesome that we used up Felix Felicis for yesterday - and nothing worked the way I wanted it to. It seems one should not rely on liquid luck." Murmured Tom. "You and Black drank it all, right?"

"Yeah. But to be honest, that's a matter of perspective. Remember, Lorella could be dead. It was luck that we picked the wrong potion. And in some way, you lucked out, too. Imagine Cooper had given her the cup filled with the Drink of Despair...you would not have her anymore, she could've escaped...off to death, where you can't reach her."

"Eat, dear." Said Tom softly, shoving the plate closer to Lorella, who shook her head, as if caught off guard, then continued eating quietly. They say together during lunch, but her eyes wandered off to Athan's empty spot at the Ravenclaw table. She felt guilty.

"Lorella." Said Tom, this time a little firmer, but their attention was grasped when Nott joined their table, his eyes were alight with excitement.

"I have news." He grinned. "I listened, they kicked Cooper out. He left Hogwarts maybe ten minutes ago with his parents." The others chuckled lowly, aside from Lorella and Tom, who both listened carefully at the rest Nott had to say.

"The bad news though...it was said that he'd be allowed to finish his final year at Durmstrang, Dumbledore said he'll personally see to it that Cooper's wand would not be destroyed. At first l did not know how he could succeed doing that, with so many things against him, thought Cooper should be happy that he's not sitting in Azkaban until his trial now comes up..."

"There will be a trial?!" Frowned Lorella. Nott shook his head. "No, the minister has been here, and talked to the parents and headmaster Dippet. Dumbledore insisted that a trial was unnecessary. And now the most interesting part." Nott leaned closer.

"Cooper admitted that he put the potion into the cup, saying he just wanted to do a scary prank because it was Halloween after all. It was Cooper's word against ours then, after all, we all just assumed that Cooper would use the Draught to make Lorella submit to him, because that's what the potion is usually used for. But with Cooper saying otherwise, and with the potion not necessarily being forbidden, well, they could not punish him more than refusing to give him the education at Hogwarts but instead offer it elsewhere. Dumbledore seemed most pleased."

But somebody was not pleased at all. Tom Riddle gritted his teeth as he stared to Cooper's empty spot. That Ravenclaw knew how to use his head.

Fine.

He had to be more patient. Just a bit. Somewhen, he would get out of this school. Somewhen, he would personally find Cooper.

Lord Voldemort never forgets.

"Tom." Said Lorella later. The both of them were cuddled in his bed, he pressed her firmly against his chest.

"Hm?"

"Where did you go, when Hogwarts was over? Where did you spend your summer?"

Tom looked at her intensively, then up the ceiling. "At an orphanage."

"Oh." She said softly, thinking about it, then cuddled closer to him, but she could feel and hear that he did not want to continue talking about this.

"We will have some fine holidays." Said Tom then.

"My father likes you already..."

Tom smirked. "Is that not a good thing?"

"Haven't decided yet." Grinned Lorella, looking away from him. Tom chuckled, then looked down her body that was so close to his, biting his bottom lip when he watched her neck stretching a little to get something to drink. His eyes wandered up her petite frame - he just liked what he saw. When Lorella turned her head back to him, he swiftly flipped her over, kissing her into the pillows. It was needless to say that Tom and Lorella had spent several nights like this, and each night felt horribly good.

"Lestrange!" It hissed in the darkness. The snoring sounds were unbearable when Lorella slept at the boys's dormitory.

"Wha? Wha-happen?" Lestrange asked drowsily.

"You happened!" Lorella hissed, throwing a pillow his way, earning her a couple of chuckles from the other beds. Tom, waking up from this, used his wand on Lestrange - of whom no sound erupted throughout the rest of the night. Lorella smiled, satisfied with that as Tom pulled her closer, grinning a slight bit. But something in him tickled, wanted to explode.

Who knows for how long he could uphold the nice boyfriend-attitude before he would go back to normal, simply taking whatever he wanted - with no regret whatsoever. He glanced at the innocent girl in his arms, and something in him just wanted to take her here on the spot, right now - over and over again, despite her screaming of help. Oh her screams. He needed them.

Soon.

He had to be patient.


	11. Growing urge

**AN: sorry for the short pause, I was quite busy with other things and other stories. You should totally check out my "Just a bit, while it lasts" fanfiction if you haven't already done so. It's also Tom/OC, however, I have a different approach on that one.**

Time passed. The very first snowflakes were falling down the sky as Lorella looked out of the windows in the Great Hall. It was a nice morning, the air smelled like cinnamon and oranges, Lorella felt fuzzy. If only the sickening thought of betrayal wasn't rushing through her body - for the longest time, she did not know who she was. It was not in a sense of having been the victim of a foul memory charm, no, it was more in the sense of feeling numb, inwardly numb, feeling unknown to the own soul that wanted to scream and break out, wanted to be free.

"What are you thinking of?" Tom asked, glancing at the girl.

"Oh, not much." Said Lorella, looking to him. She rested her head on her elbow while she watched him sipping on his cup of tea, reading something in a book. Almost nobody was in the Great Hall, it was a quiet Saturday morning.

"Holly." Tom then called out to a Hufflepuff. Lorella looked up, realizing it was the same girl she saw at Slughorn's party. She walked up to Tom.

"Yes?"

"I want you to patrol the third corridor tonight. Clarson got injured, he can't do it. So you will."

"Okay." Said the girl, then walked out of the Great Hall.

"Why are you allowed to give them orders?" Asked Lorella, looking up to Tom, who smirked at her only faintly.

"Because I am not only a prefect, I am also head boy, my dear." Said Tom, kissing her cheek. "That allows me to control all prefects and give them orders." He explained, then continued reading while Lorella thought of some things.

"Tell me. What are your plans for the future." Asked Tom suddenly, closing the book. Lorella raised her head, looking at him in thoughts. She did not expect this question, still yet it was the very same question that kept her mind busy for some time.

"Well...I've got two ideas, actually. I could imagine coming back as a teacher for Divination. Plan B is to get into the ministry of magic and work at the Department for International Magical Cooperation. Like my father. I find it to be very interesting and exciting." Smiled Lorella.

"Hm." Murmured Tom, sipping on his tea again, narrowing his eyes in thoughts.

"You really don't want to get into the ministry, do you?" Lorella asked. "Slughorn and everyone else thinks it's suitable. You have top grades in all courses."

Tom glanced at her, then ahead again. "Those things bore me." He said, putting his cup down before his eyes turned to her.

"But Tom..." Lorella frowned. "What is greater than proposing ideas to shape the lives of witches and wizards into the better?"

"Simply doing it." Tom said shortly.

Lorella glanced away. "You can't step on everyone just for your own benefit all the time..."

"I did not ask them to be weak." He said, his hypnotizing gaze starting to bore through her very soul.

"Yeah..." Sighed Lorella and turned her face away bitterly. "Ridiculous..." She murmured.

"What was that?!" Hissed Tom suddenly, turning his face towards her. Lorella shook her head.

"Nothing." She murmured. "I'm sure you'll do whatever you want anyway."

"Right you are. They have no orientation. That's why my ideals...shall be introduced to the whole wizarding community soon..." He murmured darkly, then frowned when Lorella had gotten up.

"Where are you going!"

"Library. I need to research for an essay for Divination."

"Bring the books here that you want to use."

"What? Why?"

Tom looked at her intensively at that question.

"Because", he started, "I do want to know and see what you're writing. We will do it together - as always, Lorella" he said firmly. Lorella stood there and watched him, but he put his cup down, clicked his tongue and got up from the table, wrapping his hand around her elbow as he led her towards the library.

"You really rub me the wrong way today, girl." He whispered into her ear. Lorella looked up to him shyly when he said that, then suddenly turned around to him and kissed his lips only to laugh and run off. Tom stood there as if talked to in a language he couldn't understand, blinked and watched Lorella disappearing around a corner. She peeped her head back around, looking over to him, giggled, then ran away again. Tom just shook his head, still not knowing what to do, but he marched after her while sighing.

"Lorella!" He shouted when she ran ahead of him and away, the amused giggles echoed in the corridors. As the girl rounded another corner, hoping for a place where she could hide, she stepped back and frowned when there was a door in the wall. Lorella tilted her head to the side and stretched her hand out as if the door could bite and she wanted to make sure it was tamed first. Curiously she opened it and her eyes widened at what she saw. A large room, cathedral-like, completely stuffed with things of sorts. Lorella walked inside cautiously, scanning the different areas with her eyes. What an enormous-

"Eeeek!" Squeaked Lorella, turning around to the the person having their hand on her shoulder. Tom raised an eyebrow at her, the corner of his mouth twitched up.

"You found the room." Said Tom with some sort of surprise in his voice.

"What is this place? We walked by this corridor a couple of times, I've never seen this door"

Tom chuckled. "There are students that pass by for years and leave the school without knowing the room exists. What did you think of? A place to hide?"

"Y-yes" Frowned Lorella, wondering why that was so important, but then she understood.

"So the room only appears when one thinks of something they need?" She said and walked around curiously when Tom nodded. "What are these objects? Do they belong to somebody?"

"Did. Their owners tried to dispose of them." Said Tom. "Students, staff, whoever thought of a place to hide something."

"Did you ever hide something here?" Lorella asked with a giggle, looking over to Tom who smirked and shrugged. "Maybe."

"What did you hide?" Asked Lorella, walking over to him. Tom just seemed even more amused, shaking his head at her. "Aren't you curious." He grinned, kissing down her neck. His hot breath tickled her skin and he pulled away from her after a moment.

"The room becomes whatever you want it to be. I could see us using it in various ways..." He purred.

Lorella, still smiling, suddenly frowned. Her head turned to Tom. "So if somebody were to look for a place to study dark magic..."

"Then the room would grand them a place to study dark magic." Said Tom nonchalantly but with a smirk playing across his lips.

"There's so much more in this castle that you don't know of, sweet Lorella..." He murmured, not able to suppress another soft grin. Lorella looked at him, still curious and unknowing.

"But do not worry." Tom said. "I'm always by your side, am I not?" He sighed, then leaned against a shelf with crossed arms as he observed Lorella strolling around. He watched her bending and stretching, elegantly moving to the left and right, carefully poking things. And this urge crept up to him again. He wanted to hear her scream; wanted to make her tremble. Her scared face, he missed it, longed for it. Could he, perhaps...

"Lorella." Tom said. "Come here to me."

Lorella turned around and walked over to him. "Yes?" She asked while he stared into her eyes intensively. "Kiss me", he demanded.

Lorella, slightly taken aback, tiptoed up to him and kissed him softly. Tom wrapped his arms around her, deepening the action before he let go, breathing against her bottom lip heavily. Not yet.

"Let's get done with your essay." He then purred, grabbing her hand and walked off.

A couple of days passed and Lorella was currently sitting in the common room, glancing up when Tom and his gang entered as well.

"Hey." Smiled Lorella.

"Since when are you here?" Tom frowned, sitting next to her on the couch, his hand resting on her thigh.

"Divination was cancelled and I didn't know where you were so I came here." Said Lorella with a hearty yawn that caused Lestrange and the rest to yawn as well, much to Lorella's amusement. Tom, without the slightest of facial twitches, simply pulled the girl into his arms, his mouth straight and calm as always. "By the way", he started, "Slughorn's next party takes place the 23rd of December. He told me to let you know, he didn't send out invitations this time."

"Probably didn't want anyone to know that he would continue any of his parties after the last incident" grinned Mulciber as he sipped on some Firewhiskey.

"At least I wouldn't have thought to receive another invitation after being so troublesome during his last two..." Lorella sighed softly and the others chuckled when everyone's eyes turned over to the entrance that closed again; Nott walking inside, handing over a letter to Tom that Lorella glanced at but resided with sketching around on her paper pad.

"Who's it?" Asked Lestrange curiously.

"Dolohov." Said Tom. "He'll be out of the hospital as well, soon." He added. This stirred Lorella's curiosity.

"Why were the three of you, Nott, Rosier and this...Dolothing boy in the hospital? What happened?"

Tom looked at Lorella, pinching her cheek. "Curiosity killed the cat, my precious." He muttered while Rosier and Nott chuckled as they watched Lorella pouting; she disliked not knowing these things.

"Where are you going now?" Asked Tom with a frown when Lorella got up yet again.

"Library."

"What for? You've done all your assignments." Said Tom with a raised eyebrow.

"I just want to read a bit." Sighed Lorella, walking out of the common room. Tom merely glanced at the entrance, narrowing his eyes, but someone else said what he thought.

"As if." Grinned Lestrange and stretched up. "I'll go after her, it's my turn I guess" he murmured.

Tom nodded at him. "Don't get caught. I need to know what she's up to. Because she is up to something."

When Lestrange walked up into the library, he found Lorella in the very back of the room, curled down on some pillows, a book in her hands. She glanced up to him once she spotted Lestrange leaning against the bookshelf with a raised eyebrow.

"What is it you're reading?" He asked.

"History of Divination." Shrugged Lorella, yawning. "And I thought Tom would've stopped sending people after me...how wrong I was." She sighed. Lestrange walked over to her, an unreadable expression spread on his face as he sat down. Tom rubbed off on everyone.

"He's just scared that something will happen after such troublesome times." He patted her head while Lorella just stared at him.

"As far as I recall it, you guys aren't exactly innocent in shaping these, how did you word it, troublesome times" she frowned.

"We have learned our lessons. As have you", chuckled Lestrange. "But tell me, why sitting in the library, you could read that book in the common room."

"It's quiet here. At least I hoped it to be" she raised an eyebrow at Lestrange, clearly remarking the irony of his presence. Lestrange chuckled, but nodded.

"I got it, I got it. So you're not up to some foul business, are you, Lorella?"

"Can these eyes lie?" Lorella batted her eyelashes at him and Lestrange grinned, patting her head before he got up.

"Fine then. I'll pick you up for lunch", he said, then walked off. Lorella chuckled to herself, shaking her head at him, then pulled out a piece of parchment and her quill.

 _12th of December 1944_

 _Dear Athan,_

 _how are things going? Do they treat you well at Durmstrang? I've heard about their affiliation with the Dark Arts, is that true? I do wonder about that. Anyway, there's nothing special going on here. Did I tell you that Tom is going to be with us during Christmas? My father invited him over after "capturing" you. I want you to know that I never truly believed you (voluntarily) gave me the Draught. Tom's gang surely has something to do with it, I'm not stupid. I think it's outrageous that a student gets expelled because of that. Sure, the Draught is usually used for drugging young witches but it was Halloween. Saying that it was a stupid prank was enormously helpful - did Dumbledore tell you to say that? He's unbelievable. And he has seen through Tom a while ago - probably from the start. I can't do much, can I? I just hope that Tom will get bored of me soon, until then, I have to play the sweet and innocent girlfriend. Are you spending your holidays at home? Hope to hear from you,_

 _Lorella._

As Lorella closed the book with the letter inside, she did not notice the pair of eyes behind her, watching every bit of her movement.

Lunch was oddly tense. Tom stared at Lorella with his omniscient stare that caused her to feel enormously uncomfortable while eating.

"What is it?" She then whispered to him. Tom shook his head, no muscle twitched in his face when he shoved something to eat into his mouth.

"We will take a walk after lunch, Lorella." Said Tom then. Lorella frowned, glancing to the left and right.

"I...wanted to go into the library again." She said quietly. Tom smiled at her.

"Why, you surely want to visit the owlery, do you not?" He asked, stroking some strands of hair behind her ear. Lorella's eyes widened a slight bit, not expecting this.

"H-ow?" She asked, but Tom shook his head with a deep sigh. "You can't hide anything from me." He said softly. "So let us try it the kind way, shall we? You will give me that letter without any objections and there shall be no consequences for whatever you've been writing, or you will watch what happens in case you will not give me that letter." He looked into her eyes. Lorella glanced away, then back at him.

"Can't I simply tell you what I wrote?" She asked. Tom chuckled.

"Excuse me, dear. Are you under the belief that I would let you send that letter to Mr. Cooper?" He asked amused. Lorella gulped again, then sighed and simply shoved the letter into his hand without further commentary. Tom put it away under his cloak, then sighed and shook his head.

"I really hoped we could have started over new, Lorella. But you leave me no other choice but to resolve in how it used to be, do you?"

"No!" Lorella suddenly hissed, causing the rest of the Slytherins to look up curiously, then away again when Tom glared.

"I'm sorry." Said Lorella. "Let's not fight..." She whispered. Tom glanced at her curiously, then grinned, bringing his lips to her forehead, but did not answer, leaving Lorella in a state of painful insecurity.

"We will talk about it later" he then said - and that's when Lorella knew she would be in trouble, no matter which way she looked at it.


End file.
